Yale Stem Cell Center and Department of Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
Mol Cell. 2014 Oct 2;56(1):18-27. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2014.09.012.
Piwi proteins and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are essential for gametogenesis, embryogenesis, and stem cell maintenance in animals. Piwi proteins act on transposon RNAs by cleaving the RNAs and by interacting with factors involved in RNA regulation. Additionally, piRNAs generated from transposons and psuedogenes can be used by Piwi proteins to regulate mRNAs at the posttranscriptional level. Here we discuss piRNA biogenesis, recent findings on posttranscriptional regulation of mRNAs by the piRNA pathway, and the potential importance of this posttranscriptional regulation for a variety of biological processes such as gametogenesis, developmental transitions, and sex determination.
Piwi 蛋白和 Piwi 相互作用的 RNA（piRNA）对于动物的配子发生、胚胎发生和干细胞维持至关重要。Piwi 蛋白通过切割 RNA 以及与参与 RNA 调节的因子相互作用来作用于转座子 RNA。此外，来自转座子和假基因的 piRNA 可以被 Piwi 蛋白用于在转录后水平调节 mRNA。在这里，我们讨论 piRNA 的生物发生，最近发现的 piRNA 途径对 mRNA 的转录后调控，以及这种转录后调控对各种生物学过程的潜在重要性，如配子发生、发育转变和性别决定。
