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Reproductive aging

Ancient viruses sustain mammalian reproduction

Nature Aging volume 5, pages 728–730 (2025)Cite this article

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Wood and colleagues reveal that two retrotransposon-derived capsid genes are essential for preserving male and female fertility in mice. Their discovery suggests that ancient viral proteins mediate cell–cell communication in the gonads, which offers a striking example of viral gene domestication in reproductive biology.

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Fig. 1: Cell type-specific expression of PNMA1 and PNMA4 in reproductive tissues and potential intercellular communication via viral capsids.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank M. McManus for discussions and edits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Caroline A. Doherty & Diana J. Laird

  2. The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Caroline A. Doherty & Diana J. Laird

  3. Center for Reproductive Sciences and Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Institute for Regeneration Medicine, Bakar Aging Research Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Diana J. Laird

Authors
  1. Caroline A. Doherty
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  2. Diana J. Laird
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Correspondence to Diana J. Laird.

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Competing interests

D.J.L. is a scientific advisor to Vitra, Inc.

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Doherty, C.A., Laird, D.J. Ancient viruses sustain mammalian reproduction. Nat Aging 5, 728–730 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-00867-5

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