Viral Mimicry

Viral mimicry is the process by which mislocalized or aberrantly processed endogenous nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) are detected by antiviral nucleic-acid-sensing pathways, triggering an interferon and inflammatory response as though the cell were infected by a virus, even though no pathogen is present. In cancer biology, viral mimicry has been described in contexts ranging from epigenetic derepression of endogenous retroviral elements to leakage of mitochondrial nucleic acids into the cytosol.