The Essential but Enigmatic Regulatory Role of HERVH in Pluripotency
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-30-2021
Publication Title
Trends in Genetics
First page number:
1
Last page number:
10
Abstract
Human specific endogenous retrovirus H (HERVH) is highly expressed in both naive and primed stem cells and is essential for pluripotency. Despite the proven relationship between HERVH expression and pluripotency, there is no single definitive model for the function of HERVH. Instead, several hypotheses of a regulatory function have been put forward including HERVH acting as enhancers, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and most recently as markers of topologically associating domain (TAD) boundaries. Recently several enhancer-associated lncRNAs have been characterized, which bind to Mediator and are necessary for promoter–enhancer folding interactions. We propose a synergistic model of HERVH function combining relevant findings and discuss the current limitations for its role in regulation, including the lack of evidence for a pluripotency-associated target gene.
Keywords
Endogenous retrovirus; Enhancer; Gene regulation; Mediator topologically associating domain (TAD); Stem cell
Disciplines
Genetics | Genetics and Genomics | Life Sciences
Language
English
Repository Citation
Sexton, C. E.,
Tillett, R. L.,
Han, M. V.
(2021).
The Essential but Enigmatic Regulatory Role of HERVH in Pluripotency.
Trends in Genetics
1-10.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2021.07.007