Fig. 3
From: Transposable elements in the mammalian embryo: pioneers surviving through stealth and service
Examples of endogenous retrovirus (ERV) contributions to pluripotency. A long terminal repeat (LTR) possesses binding sites for pluripotency transcription factors (TFs) and can serve as a transcription start site (TSS). LTRs bound by pluripotency TFs can thereby impact embryonic stem cell identity by: (1) serving as alternative promoters for pluripotency genes, (2) providing long-range enhancers to specific host genes, (3) generating stem-cell-specific long noncoding RNAs that can bind to proteins regulating the pluripotent state, (4) transcribing proviral DNA elements as precursors to ERV protein expression, and (5) rewiring gene regulatory networks by controlling several pluripotency genes