“…However, in general, how or why HERV genes are expressed, and the mechanisms responsible for expression, is not clearly understood. It is known that exogenous viral infections, viral transactivators, processes such as inflammation, chemical agents, cytokines, hormones, and stress conditions can contribute to the activation and transcription of transposable genetic elements, HERV-K (HML-2) being an example (21,26,39,55,57,60,66,68,71,94,101,114,116,121,122,125,127). A possible role for HERV-K (HML-2) in pathogenesis has been considered in disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and neuroinflammation (3,36,43,53,77,90,112,113).…”