Author Interviews, Infections, Schizophrenia / 05.08.2020
Link Between Human Endogenous Retroviral (HERV) Proteins and Psychosis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Hervé Perron PhD
Chief Scientific Officer at GeNeuro
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), remnants of ancestral viral genomic insertions, are known to represent 8% of the human genome and are associated with several pathologies. Certain proteins produced by HERVs have previously been found to be involved in pathogenic mechanisms linked to, e.g., multiple sclerosis (MS) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, despite previous results having shown an abnormal expression of HERV-W in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, the mechanisms involved in these psychiatric disorders are poorly understood.
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