Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) and related genetic elements form 504 distinct families and occupy ~8% of human genome. Recent success of high-throughput experimental technologies facilitated understanding functional impact of HERVs for molecular machinery of human cells. HERVs encode active retroviral proteins, which may exert important physiological functions in the body, but also may be involved in the progression of cancer and numerous human autoimmune, neurological and infectious diseases. The spectrum of related malignancies includes, but not limits to, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, lupus, schizophrenia, multiple cancer types and HIV. In addition, HERVs regulate expression of the neighboring host genes and modify genomic regulatory landscape, e.g., by providing regulatory modules like transcription factor binding sites (TFBS). Indeed, recent bioinformatic profiling identified ~110,000 regulatory active HERV elements, which formed at least ~320,000 human TFBS. These and other peculiarities of HERVs might have played an important role in human evolution and speciation. In this paper, we focus on the current progress in understanding of normal and pathological molecular niches of HERVs, on their implications in human evolution, normal physiology and disease. We also review the available databases dealing with various aspects of HERV genetics.

A new method was developed to fabricate unique gold quasi-3D plasmonic nanostructures on poly(dimethylsiloxane) PDMS and 2D nanohole arrays on silicon as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates using electron beam lithography (EBL) with negative tone resist Ma-N 2403 and soft lithography. The size and shape of nanopillars fabricated by EBL were well controlled via different beam conditions. An enhancement factor (EF) as high as 6.4 x 10(5) was obtained for 4-mercaptopyridine molecules adsorbed on the gold quasi-3D nanostructure array on PDMS with 400 nm diameter, 100 nm spacing and 300 nm depth, while no enhancement was observed for the gold 2D nanohole array on silicon with the same diameter and spacing. The experimental results were confirmed by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations. Furthermore, the calculated total electric fields showed that the strong SERS exhibited by the gold quasi-3D nanostructure arrays on PDMS is due to the strong localized electric fields at the gold-air interface of the bottom gold nanodisc. The strong and reproducible SERS spectroscopy for molecules adsorbed on precisely controlled gold quasi-3D nanostructure arrays on PDMS makes it possible for the integration of SERS-active nanopatterns into microfluidic devices as chemical and biological sensors with molecular specificity.

As the level of interest in aging research increases, there is a growing number of geroprotectors, or therapeutic interventions that aim to extend the healthy lifespan and repair or reduce aging-related damage in model organisms and, eventually, in humans. There is a clear need for a manually-curated database of geroprotectors to compile and index their effects on aging and age-related diseases and link these effects to relevant studies and multiple biochemical and drug databases. Here, we introduce the first such resource, Geroprotectors (http://geroprotectors.org). Geroprotectors is a public, rapidly explorable database that catalogs over 250 experiments involving over 200 known or candidate geroprotectors that extend lifespan in model organisms. Each compound has a comprehensive profile complete with biochemistry, mechanisms, and lifespan effects in various model organisms, along with information ranging from chemical structure, side effects, and toxicity to FDA drug status. These are presented in a visually intuitive, efficient framework fit for casual browsing or in-depth research alike. Data are linked to the source studies or databases, providing quick and convenient access to original data. The Geroprotectors database facilitates cross-study, cross-organism, and cross-discipline analysis and saves countless hours of inefficient literature and web searching. Geroprotectors is a one-stop, knowledge-sharing, time-saving resource for researchers seeking healthy aging solutions.

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