ArticleOncotarget2016
Activation of HERV-K Env protein is essential for tumorigenesis and metastasis of breast cancer cells.
Article in Oncotarget, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 124 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Expression and Immunogenicity of Human Endogenous Retroviral Proteins in Cancer and Discussion of Therapeutic Approaches.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Close to the Bedside: A Systematic Review of Endogenous Retroviruses and Their Impact in Oncology.The Journal of surgical research · 2019Pooled it
- The therapeutic potential of transposable element activity modulation.EMBO molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Transposable Element Activation: A Hallmark of Cancer.Cancer discovery · 2026Review
- Oncogenic role of ERV with therapeutic potential.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- How Do Cancer Cells Fuse and Why?Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- How Oncovirus Affects Drug Resistance in Cancer Cells.Recent patents on anti-cancer drug discovery · 2026Review
- Characterization of HERV-K (HML-2) Rec proteins encoded in the human genome and their post-transcriptional function.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K) envelope structures in pre- and postfusion by cryo-EM.Science advances · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Human endogenous retrovirus-K envelope protein is aberrantly expressed in serous ovarian cancer and promotes chemosensitivity via NF-κB/P-glycoprotein pathway inhibition.Journal of ovarian research · 2025Article
- Investigating the expression of HERV-K env, np9, gag, and rec in bladder cancers.Infectious agents and cancer · 2025Article
- Endogenous viral elements constitute a complementary source of antigens for personalized cancer vaccines.NPJ vaccines · 2025Article
- Exploring viral mimicry combined with epigenetics and tumor immunity: new perspectives in cancer therapy.International journal of biological sciences · 2025Review
- Revolutionizing cancer treatment: an in-depth exploration of CAR-T cell therapies.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2024Review
- Microproteins encoded by noncanonical ORFs are a major source of tumor-specific antigens in a liver cancer patient meta-cohort.Science advances · 2024Article
- Precise Therapy Using the Selective Endogenous Encapsidation for Cellular Delivery Vector System.Pharmaceutics · 2024Review
- Towards targeting transposable elements for cancer therapy.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2024Review
- Cell Fusion and Syncytia Formation in Cancer.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Human endogenous retrovirus type K (HERV-K) Env protein was previously demonstrated to be overexpressed in human breast cancer (BC) cells and tissues. However, the molecular pathways driving the specific alterations are unknown. We now show that knockdown of its expression with an shRNA (shRNAenv) blocked BC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. shRNAenv transduction also attenuated the ability of BC cells to form tumors, and notably prevented metastasis. Mechanistically, downregulation of HERV-K blocked expression of tumor-associated genes that included Ras, p-RSK, and p-ERK. The major upstream regulators influenced by HERV-K knockdown were p53, TGF- β1, and MYC. Of interest, when the HERV-K env gene was overexpressed in shRNAenv-transduced BC cells using an HERV-K env expression vector, Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway signaling was restored. CDK5, which alters p53 phosphorylation in some cancers, was upregulated and p53 was downregulated when HERV-K was overexpressed. CDK5 is also a mediator of TGF-β1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and migration in cancer cells, and is involved in tumor formation. Importantly, reductions in migration, invasion, and transformation of BC cells stably transduced with shRNAenv was reversed after adding back a vector with a synonymous mutation of HERV-K env. Taken together, these results indicate that HERV-K Env protein plays an important role in tumorigenesis and metastasis of BC.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.