Abstract
Endogenous retroviruses, or genomic relics of ancient viral infection, have been associated with certain neurodegenerative diseases. Here, Liu et al. report a pathway by which reactivated viral gene products contribute to intercellular protein aggregate spreading. Prion-like spreading of protein misfolding is a characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases, but the exact mechanisms of intercellular protein aggregate dissemination remain unresolved. Evidence accumulates that endogenous retroviruses, remnants of viral germline infections that are normally epigenetically silenced, become upregulated in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and tauopathies. Here we uncover that activation of endogenous retroviruses affects prion-like spreading of proteopathic seeds. We show that upregulation of endogenous retroviruses drastically increases the dissemination of protein aggregates between cells in culture, a process that can be inhibited by targeting the viral envelope protein or viral protein processing. Human endogenous retrovirus envelopes of four different clades also elevate intercellular spreading of proteopathic seeds, including pathological Tau. Our data support a role of endogenous retroviruses in protein misfolding diseases and suggest that antiviral drugs could represent promising candidates for inhibiting protein aggregate spreading.
| Dokumententyp: | Zeitschriftenartikel |
|---|---|
| Fakultät: | Medizin > Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy) |
| Themengebiete: | 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit |
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:bvb:19-epub-117470-4 |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Dokumenten ID: | 117470 |
| Datum der Veröffentlichung auf Open Access LMU: | 07. Jun. 2024, 15:47 |
| Letzte Änderungen: | 11. Jun. 2024, 14:08 |
| DFG: | Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 390857198 |
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