AN ENDOGENOUS RETROVIRUS WITH NUCLEIC-ACID SEQUENCES SIMILAR TO THOSEOF THE MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS ASSOCIATED RETROVIRUS AT THE HUMAN T-CELL RECEPTOR-ALPHA, DELTA-GENE LOCUS

Retroviruses are suspected to be involved in the pathogenesis of autoi mmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we describe a c omplete cartography of a novel human endogenous retroviral sequence wi th a pol domain which shares a high homology with the pol sequence of the multiple sclerosis associated retrovirus (MSRV). Since this new en dogenous retroviral sequence is located in the close vicinity of the l ocus of the human gene coding for the T-cell receptor (TcR) alpha and delta chains on chromosome 14, it could be of potential interest for t he understanding of MS pathogenesis.