piRNAs, master regulators of gene expression

摘要：

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have a major function in the repression of transposable elements in the germline;in addition,they have been proposed to regulate gene expression.A recent study in Cell Research reveals a general role for piRNAs in the massive mRNA decay during mouse spermiogenesis,reinforcing this emerging function of piRNAs.piRNAs form a distinct class of small non-coding RNAs that are associated with specific Argonaute proteins,the Piwi proteins.Genetic studies have shown that the Piwi/piRNA pathway has an evolutionarily conserved role in the silencing of transposable elements (TE) in the germline of animals.A large proportion of piRNAs indeed derive from TE sequences and target complementary sequences,inducing TE silencing at transcriptional or post-transcriptional levels ”1”.However,piRNAs are not systematically produced from TE sequences,and they can be generated from genomic clusters unrelated to TE.This is the case in C.elegans germ cells and during late spermatogenesis in mice.The existence of piRNAs unrelated to TE suggests that they have additional functions independent of TE silencing,such as potential roles in the regulation of gene expression.

所属期刊栏目：24

在线出版日期：2014-08-22（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）

页码：779-780