Endogenous retrovirus: from fundamental studies to etiotropic therapy of multiple sclerosis

Retroviruses are a single-stranded RNA viruses that introduce their genes into host cells genome. Genes of retroviruses compose 9.3% of human genome. These genes may influence human genome activity by changing its structure and stability, introducing regulatory elements and expression of retroviral genes. Recently role of endogen retroviruses in human disease is studied. This article presents an overview of the role of retroviruses in the development of multiple sclerosis and potential approaches to etiotropic therapy.