Endogenous retro-viruses - is reactivation possible?

[Bob]

Apologies if this has been covered before on the forum... I'm sure it has, but I can't find it.

Does anyone know if it is thought that endogenous viruses can become reactivated, and active, under certain circumstances?

I have just been reading the Phoenix Rising blog about Elaine DeFreitas' research, and how some people concluded that she had just found a 'benign' endogenous retro-virus.

If it was the case that she just found an endogenous retro-virus, then what exactly would she have been detecting? Would it have been some virus DNA, or some virus protein particles?

Could endogenous virus particles (DNA/protein particles) be toxic or inflammatory, thus causing a disease process such as ME?

Could a disease, such as ME or HIV, reactivate dormant (usually benign) endogenous viruses, allowing their DNA to float around in the blood, or allowing whole viruses to be created? If so, then could reactivated endogenous retro-viruses be a symptom of ME, rather than a cause?

Has anyone any thoughts about this?

 

[Bob]

Oh, I think that I've just found a partial answer to my question on the recent thread about HHV-6:
HHV-6 Hidden in Chromosomes Can Be Passed from Parents to Children
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...osomes-Can-Be-Passed-from-Parents-to-Children

HHV-6 integrates into the chromosome during latency and reactivates in response to chemical stimulation.
Peter Medveczky and colleagues determined that HHV-6 uses a novel form of latency. The virus finds safe harbor inside the human chromosomes to evade the immune system. Medveczky made this surprising finding by studying patients who have a rare form of HHV-6. They are actually born with HHV-6 integrated into every cell of their bodies, and the virus is passed from parent to child. Many scientists believes that this integrated virus could not be reactivated but Medveczky's group determined that chemical stimulation can cause the integrated virus to start producing.

 

[FernRhizome]

Bob:
You might also want to check out the thread we have going titled "ancient retroviruses" which is about a two-year study out of Chicago which a bunch of us are in. It's also about reactivation of viruses. ~Fern

 

[Bob]

Bob:
You might also want to check out the thread we have going titled "ancient retroviruses" which is about a two-year study out of Chicago which a bunch of us are in. It's also about reactivation of viruses. ~Fern

Hi Fern, thanks for that... do you mean the thread "Ancient Retrovirus Study/Tufts University & U. Illinois-Chicago"?
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...linois-Chicago&highlight=ancient+retroviruses
It's the only one i can find.