Possible involvement of endogenous retroviruses in the development of autoimmune disorders, especially multiple sclerosis

Endogenous retroviruses are normal elements in vertebrate genomes. Many aspects concerning these genomic elements are still uncertain. In mice some endogenous retroviral sequences seem to be involved in the regulation of immune responses and there is even evidence that a retroviral element is responsible for the development of an autoimmune disease in a mouse strain. Whether endogenous retroviruses also contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases in humans is not known, but it is an interesting possibility. Below we briefly review endogenous retroviruses as potential etiological factors in autoimmunity and we discuss a possible association between MS and endogenous retroviruses on the basis of results from our laboratory.