The Essential but Enigmatic Regulatory Role of HERVH in Pluripotency

Overview

Journal Trends Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2021 Aug 3

PMID 34340871

Citations 11

Authors

Corinne E Sexton

Richard L Tillett

Mira V Han

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

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.

Citing Articles

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