Endogenous retroviruses are estimated to make up 8-10% of the human genome. Up until now, scientists thought the materials were unusable or harmful. However, a critical early stage of embryonic development has been linked to a virus that mixed with our ancestral DNA. The newly discovered link has significances for creating artificial embryos and regenerative medicines.
Scientists identified a retroviral MERVL-gag protein expression which influences the gene URI, thought to enable cells to become pluripotent. MERVL-gag is high in the early phase of totipotent growth, then steadily decreases as URI becomes more influential on the behavior of cells.
The retroviral protein is found to help development of totipotent cells into pluripotent cells in mouse models. In other words, the protein enables specialization in the embryo and determines whether a blob of cells become a human, cat or sea cucumber.
This finding is significant in uncovering the long symbiotic relationship between humans and viruses, especially through retroviral protein that co-evolved will us for millions of years.
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