scholarly journals The Relationship of the Mechanisms of the Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis and the Expression of Endogenous Retroviruses

Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 464
Author(s):  
Vera R. Lezhnyova ◽  
Ekaterina V. Martynova ◽  
Timur I. Khaiboullin ◽  
Richard A. Urbanowicz ◽  
Svetlana F. Khaiboullina ◽  
...  

Two human endogenous retroviruses of the HERV-W family can act as cofactors triggering multiple sclerosis (MS): MS-associated retrovirus (MSRV) and ERVWE1. Endogenous retroviral elements are believed to have integrated in our ancestors’ DNA millions of years ago. Their involvement in the pathogenesis of various diseases, including neurodegenerative pathologies, has been demonstrated. Numerous studies have shown a correlation between the deterioration of patients’ health and increased expression of endogenous retroviruses. The exact causes and mechanisms of endogenous retroviruses activation remains unknown, which hampers development of therapeutics. In this review, we will summarize the main characteristics of human endogenous W retroviruses and describe the putative mechanisms of activation, including epigenetic mechanisms, humoral factors as well as the role of the exogenous viral infections.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Samira Zarrabi-Ajami ◽  
Hadi Zamanian ◽  
Adis Kraskian Mujembari ◽  
Sara Pashang ◽  
◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1374
Author(s):  
Agamemnon Bakakos ◽  
Petros Bakakos ◽  
Nikoletta Rovina

Viral infections are one of the main causes of asthma exacerbations. During the COVID-19 era, concerns regarding the relationship of SARS-CoV2 with asthma have been raised. The concerns are both for COVID severity and asthma exacerbations. Many studies on COVID-19 epidemiology and comorbidities have assessed whether asthma represents a risk factor for SARS-CoV2 infection and/or more severe course of the disease. This review covers the current evidence on the prevalence of asthma in COVID-19 and its association with susceptibility to and severity of SARS-CoV2 infection. It will examine the possible role of underlying asthma severity in COVID-19 related outcomes as well as the molecular mechanisms involved in the co-existence of these entities. The possible role of asthma inflammatory phenotypes will also be evaluated. Finally, the impact of asthma comorbidities and the implications of asthma medication on COVID-19 will be addressed.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Greenig

Since their discovery in the 1960s, further investigation into endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) has challenged the conventional view of viral sequences as exclusively parasitic elements. Once presumed to be a group of passive genetic relics, it is becoming increasingly clear that this view of ERVs, while generally accurate, is incorrect in many specific cases. Research has identified ERV genes that appear to be co-opted by their mammalian hosts, but the biological function of ERV elements in humans remains a controversial subject. One area that has attracted some attention in this domain is the role of co-opted ERV elements in mammalian immune systems. The relationship between ERVs and human autoimmune diseases has also been investigated, but has historically been treated as a separate topic. This review will summarize the current evidence concerning the phenotypic significance of ERVs, both in the healthy immune system and in manifestations of autoimmunity. Furthermore, it will evaluate the relationship between these fields of study, and propose previously-unexplored molecular mechanisms through which human endogenous retroviruses might contribute to certain autoimmune pathologies. Investigation into these novel mechanisms could further our understanding of the molecular basis of autoimmune disease, and may one day provide new targets for treatment.


Author(s):  
Alex D. Greenwood ◽  
Yasuko Ishida ◽  
Sean P. O'Brien ◽  
Alfred L. Roca ◽  
Maribeth V. Eiden

SUMMARYViruses of the subfamilyOrthoretrovirinaeare defined by the ability to reverse transcribe an RNA genome into DNA that integrates into the host cell genome during the intracellular virus life cycle. Exogenous retroviruses (XRVs) are horizontally transmitted between host individuals, with disease outcome depending on interactions between the retrovirus and the host organism. When retroviruses infect germ line cells of the host, they may become endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), which are permanent elements in the host germ line that are subject to vertical transmission. These ERVs sometimes remain infectious and can themselves give rise to XRVs. This review integrates recent developments in the phylogenetic classification of retroviruses and the identification of retroviral receptors to elucidate the origins and evolution of XRVs and ERVs. We consider whether ERVs may recurrently pressure XRVs to shift receptor usage to sidestep ERV interference. We discuss how related retroviruses undergo alternative fates in different host lineages after endogenization, with koala retrovirus (KoRV) receiving notable interest as a recent invader of its host germ line. KoRV is heritable but also infectious, which provides insights into the early stages of germ line invasions as well as XRV generation from ERVs. The relationship of KoRV to primate and other retroviruses is placed in the context of host biogeography and the potential role of bats and rodents as vectors for interspecies viral transmission. Combining studies of extant XRVs and “fossil” endogenous retroviruses in koalas and other Australasian species has broadened our understanding of the evolution of retroviruses and host-retrovirus interactions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 76-91
Author(s):  
E. D. Solozhentsev

The scientific problem of economics “Managing the quality of human life” is formulated on the basis of artificial intelligence, algebra of logic and logical-probabilistic calculus. Managing the quality of human life is represented by managing the processes of his treatment, training and decision making. Events in these processes and the corresponding logical variables relate to the behavior of a person, other persons and infrastructure. The processes of the quality of human life are modeled, analyzed and managed with the participation of the person himself. Scenarios and structural, logical and probabilistic models of managing the quality of human life are given. Special software for quality management is described. The relationship of human quality of life and the digital economy is examined. We consider the role of public opinion in the management of the “bottom” based on the synthesis of many studies on the management of the economics and the state. The bottom management is also feedback from the top management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-259
Author(s):  
Joseph Acquisto

This essay examines a polemic between two Baudelaire critics of the 1930s, Jean Cassou and Benjamin Fondane, which centered on the relationship of poetry to progressive politics and metaphysics. I argue that a return to Baudelaire's poetry can yield insight into what seems like an impasse in Cassou and Fondane. Baudelaire provides the possibility of realigning metaphysics and politics so that poetry has the potential to become the space in which we can begin to think the two of them together, as opposed to seeing them in unresolvable tension. Or rather, the tension that Baudelaire animates between the two allows us a new way of thinking about the role of esthetics in moments of political crisis. We can in some ways see Baudelaire as responding, avant la lettre, to two of his early twentieth-century readers who correctly perceived his work as the space that breathes a new urgency into the questions of how modern poetry relates to the world from which it springs and in which it intervenes.


Author(s):  
Pavel Agapov ◽  
Kirill Stepkin

The article considers the general theoretical foundations of the relationship of sectarianism and religious extremism in the Russian Federation. Practical examples of the role of destructive sects in modern religious extremism in the Russian Federation are given.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 115-131
Author(s):  
Maria M. Kuznetsova

The article examines the philosophy of Henri Bergson and William James as independent doctrines aimed at rational comprehension of spiritual reality. The doctrines imply the paramount importance of consciousness, the need for continuous spiritual development, the expansion of experience and perception. The study highlights the fundamental role of spiritual energy for individual and universal evolution, which likens these doctrines to the ancient Eastern teaching as well as to Platonism in Western philosophy. The term “spiritual energy” is used by Bergson and James all the way through their creative career, and therefore this concept should considered in the examination of their solution to the most important philosophical and scientific issues, such as the relationship of matter and spirit, consciousness and brain, cognition, free will, etc. The “radical empiricism” of William James and the “creative evolution” of Henry Bergson should be viewed as conceptions that based on peacemaking goals, because they are aimed at reconciling faith and facts, science and religion through the organic synthesis of sensory and spiritual levels of experience. Although there is a number of modern scientific discoveries that were foreseen by philosophical ideas of Bergson and James, both philosophers advocate for the artificial limitation of the sphere of experimental methods in science. They call not to limit ourselves to the usual intellectual schemes of reality comprehension, but attempt to touch the “living” reality, which presupposes an increase in the intensity of attention and will, but finally brings us closer to freedom.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wykowska ◽  
Jairo Pérez-Osorio ◽  
Stefan Kopp

This booklet is a collection of the position statements accepted for the HRI’20 conference workshop “Social Cognition for HRI: Exploring the relationship between mindreading and social attunement in human-robot interaction” (Wykowska, Perez-Osorio & Kopp, 2020). Unfortunately, due to the rapid unfolding of the novel coronavirus at the beginning of the present year, the conference and consequently our workshop, were canceled. On the light of these events, we decided to put together the positions statements accepted for the workshop. The contributions collected in these pages highlight the role of attribution of mental states to artificial agents in human-robot interaction, and precisely the quality and presence of social attunement mechanisms that are known to make human interaction smooth, efficient, and robust. These papers also accentuate the importance of the multidisciplinary approach to advance the understanding of the factors and the consequences of social interactions with artificial agents.


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