Piwi-interacting RNA

"piRNA" redirects here. For the software package, see Partition function for Interacting RNAs.

Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) is the largest class of small non-coding RNA molecules expressed in animal cells.[1][2][3] piRNAs form RNA-protein complexes through interactions with piwi-subfamily Argonaute proteins. These piRNA complexes are mostly involved in the epigenetic and post-transcriptional silencing of transposable elements and other spurious or repeat-derived transcripts, but can also be involved in the regulation of other genetic elements in germ line cells.[4][5][6]

piRNAs are mostly created from loci that function as transposon traps which provide a kind of RNA-mediated adaptive immunity against transposon expansions and invasions.[7] They are distinct from microRNA (miRNA) in size (26–31 nucleotides as opposed to 21–24 nt), lack of sequence conservation, increased complexity, and independence of Dicer for biogenesis, at least in animals.[5][1][2] (Plant Dcl2 may play a role in rasi/piRNA biogenesis.)[8][9]

Double-stranded RNAs capable of silencing repeat elements, then known as repeat associated small interfering RNA (rasiRNA), were proposed in Drosophila in 2001.[10] By 2008, it was still unclear how piRNAs are generated, but potential methods had been suggested, and it was certain their biogenesis pathway is distinct from miRNA and siRNA, while rasiRNA is now considered a piRNA subspecies.[11]

  1. ^ a b "Molecular Biology Select". Cell. 126 (2): 223–225. July 2006. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2006.07.012.
  2. ^ a b Seto AG, Kingston RE, Lau NC (June 2007). "The coming of age for Piwi proteins". Molecular Cell. 26 (5): 603–609. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2007.05.021. PMID 17560367.
  3. ^ Monga I, Banerjee I (November 2019). "Computational Identification of piRNAs Using Features Based on RNA Sequence, Structure, Thermodynamic and Physicochemical Properties". Current Genomics. 20 (7): 508–518. doi:10.2174/1389202920666191129112705. PMC 7327968. PMID 32655289.
  4. ^ Siomi MC, Sato K, Pezic D, Aravin AA (April 2011). "PIWI-interacting small RNAs: the vanguard of genome defence". Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 12 (4): 246–258. doi:10.1038/nrm3089. PMID 21427766. S2CID 5710813.
  5. ^ a b Dorner S, Eulalio A, Huntzinger E, Izaurralde E (August 2007). "Delving into the diversity of silencing pathways. Symposium on MicroRNAs and siRNAs: biological functions and mechanisms". EMBO Reports. 8 (8): 723–729. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7401015. PMC 1978081. PMID 17599087.
  6. ^ Klattenhoff C, Bratu DP, McGinnis-Schultz N, Koppetsch BS, Cook HA, Theurkauf WE (January 2007). "Drosophila rasiRNA pathway mutations disrupt embryonic axis specification through activation of an ATR/Chk2 DNA damage response". Developmental Cell. 12 (1): 45–55. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2006.12.001. PMID 17199040.
  7. ^ Goriaux C, Théron E, Brasset E, Vaury C (2014). "History of the discovery of a master locus producing piRNAs: the flamenco/COM locus in Drosophila melanogaster". Frontiers in Genetics. 5: 257. doi:10.3389/fgene.2014.00257. PMC 4120762. PMID 25136352.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference rasi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Xie Z, Johansen LK, Gustafson AM, Kasschau KD, Lellis AD, Zilberman D, Jacobsen SE, Carrington JC (May 2004). "Genetic and functional diversification of small RNA pathways in plants". PLOS Biology. 2 (5): E104. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020104. PMC 350667. PMID 15024409.
  10. ^ Aravin AA, Naumova NM, Tulin AV, Vagin VV, Rozovsky YM, Gvozdev VA (July 2001). "Double-stranded RNA-mediated silencing of genomic tandem repeats and transposable elements in the D. melanogaster germline". Current Biology. 11 (13): 1017–1027. Bibcode:2001CBio...11.1017A. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00299-8. PMID 11470406. S2CID 14767819.
  11. ^ Klattenhoff C, Theurkauf W (January 2008). "Biogenesis and germline functions of piRNAs". Development. 135 (1): 3–9. doi:10.1242/dev.006486. PMID 18032451.