Expression of human endogenous retroviruses and associated transcripts in Hodgkin lymphoma cells

Introduction During human evolution, germline infections by retroviruses have repeatedly occurred, integrating viral DNA into the host genome. As a result, the human genome consists of approximately 8% human endogenous retroviruses (HERV). Although most of this viral DNA is defective due to mutations, there are sequences with intact open reading frames for the generation of viral transcripts and proteins. In Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) the activation of HERV loci and expression of related transcripts has been observed.