Department of Biomedical Sciences, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Front Genet. 2012 Oct 16;3:204. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2012.00204. eCollection 2012.
PIWI proteins, a subclade of the Argonaute family proteins, are expressed predominantly in the germline and bind to PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), which are 25-31 nucleotides in length. The PIWI/piRNA pathway plays critical roles in germline development by regulating transposons and other targets to maintain genome integrity. While the functions of PIWI in the germline have been extensively investigated, recent studies have accumulated evidence that the human PIWI proteins, HIWI and HILI, are aberrantly expressed in a variety of cancers. This review summarizes our knowledge of PIWI expression in cancer and discusses its possible role in tumorigenesis.
PIWI 蛋白是 Argonaute 家族蛋白的一个亚科,主要在生殖细胞中表达,并与 PIWI 相互作用 RNA(piRNA)结合,piRNA 的长度为 25-31 个核苷酸。PIWI/piRNA 途径通过调节转座子和其他靶标来维持基因组完整性,在生殖细胞发育中发挥着关键作用。虽然 PIWI 在生殖细胞中的功能已被广泛研究,但最近的研究积累了证据表明,人类 PIWI 蛋白 HIWI 和 HILI 在多种癌症中异常表达。本文综述了 PIWI 在癌症中的表达及其在肿瘤发生中的可能作用。