What is the PERV virus?
Porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) is a C-type retrovirus, which is incorporated into the porcine genome, vertically transferred through inheritance. Endogenous retroviruses are remnants of ancient viral infections in some strains of porcine and other mammalian species.
Are all the endogenous retroviruses of humans the same?
Salient features of human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) and similarity to exogenous retroviruses. Over 20 HERV families have been identified during the past two decades….Table 1.
| HERV family | Representative accession number |
|---|---|
| Group 1, HERV-K (HML-1) | |
| HERV-K (HML-1.1) | U35102 |
| Group 2, HERV-K (HML-2) | |
| HERV-K10 | M14123 |
How are endogenous retroviruses transmitted?
If germ line-integrated provirus gains a foothold within the species of the infected individual through vertical transmission to its offspring, an endogenous retrovirus comes into existence. This has happened often within mammalian and proto-mammalian species.
What are exogenous retroviruses?
Exogenous retroviruses are horizontally transmitted between infected and uninfected hosts. Endogenous retroviruses are stably integrated in the genome of the host species from which they derive, are usually defective, and are transmitted vertically like any other Mendelian gene.
What is porcine retrovirus?
Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) are present in the genome of all pigs, they infect certain human cells and therefore pose a special risk for xenotransplantation using pig cells, tissues and organs. Xenotransplantation is being developed in order to alleviate the reduced availability of human organs.
What is the function of endogenous retroviruses?
Abstract. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) have recently been suggested as mediators of normal biological processes such as cellular differentiation and regulation of gene expression. Moreover, a direct role for HERVs in pathogenesis and the development of disease is now better appreciated.
What are the alternatives to xenotransplantation?
Artificial organs and human cells and tissues provide other alternatives to xenotransplantation, and would avoid the risk of xenozoonoses.
What are examples of xenotransplantation?
Some examples are:
- Porcine fetal neuronal cells.
- Encapsulated porcine islet cells.
- Encapsulated bovine adrenal chromaffin cells.
- Baboon bone marrow.
- External liver-assist devices using porcine liver or porcine hepatocytes.
What do endogenous retroviruses do?
Endogenous retroviruses can play an active role in shaping genomes. Most studies in this area have focused on the genomes of humans and higher primates, but other vertebrates, such as mice and sheep, have also been studied in depth.
Why are pigs used for xenotransplantation?
Appropriate Animals for Use in Xenotransplantation Pigs are preferred because they mature very quickly, produce large litters and have organs of comparable size and function to human organs in both infancy and adulthood. They also can be bred to high health standards in microbiologically controlled environments.
Why pig is used in xenotransplantation?
Why do pigs use xenotransplantation?
Genetically modified pigs hold great promise in xenotransplantation. Therefore, genetically modified pigs can become cell, tissue and organ donors, providing a solution to severe shortage of organ donors.
Are porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) a risk for Human Transplantation?
Abstract Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) are integrated in the genome of all pigs, and some of them are able to infect human cells. Therefore, PERVs pose a risk for xenotransplantation, the transplantation of pig cells, tissues, or organ to humans in order to alleviate the shortage of human donor organs.
Do tetherins block the release of porcine endogenous retrovirus?
Bae E.H., Jung Y.T. Tetherins of various species inhibit the release of porcine endogenous retrovirus from human cells. Acta Virol. 2014;58:53–60. doi: 10.4149/av_2014_01_53.
What is the PMCID and the PMID for porcine endogenous retroviruses?
PMCID: PMC8625113 PMID: 34834962 Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses and Xenotransplantation, 2021 Joachim Denner Yingguang Liu, Academic Editor, Pieter Borger, Academic Editor, and Julia A. Beatty, Academic Editor Author informationArticle notesCopyright and License informationDisclaimer
What do we know about the virus safety of xenotransplantation?
Viruses infecting pigs, among them viruses also infecting human cells, as well as porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) are of importance when evaluating the virus safety of xenotransplantation. Bacteriophages associated with bacteria mainly in the gut are not relevant in this context.