Institute of Molecular Biology, Biology of non-coding RNA, Mainz, Germany.
EMBO Rep. 2018 Mar;19(3). doi: 10.15252/embr.201845824. Epub 2018 Feb 19.
Transposon silencing within the germ line requires the proper processing of piRNA intermediates. However, the enzyme that is required for piRNA 3′ end maturation in vertebrates remained enigmatic. Nishimura 1 in this issue of and two independent studies 2, 3 now identified PNLDC1 as the exonuclease that is responsible for piRNA 3′ end processing and transposon silencing during mouse spermatogenesis. Together, these studies establish PNLDC1 as the piRNA 3′ end trimmer in mouse.
转座子沉默在生殖细胞中需要 piRNA 中间产物的正确加工。然而,脊椎动物中用于 piRNA 3'端成熟的酶仍然是个谜。Nishimura 在本期的研究 和两项独立的研究 2,3 中,现在确定 PNLDC1 是外切酶,负责小鼠精子发生过程中的 piRNA 3'端加工和转座子沉默。这些研究共同确定 PNLDC1 为小鼠中的 piRNA 3'端修剪酶。