Department of Medical and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 19 Jordana, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Nov 14;25(22):12217. doi: 10.3390/ijms252212217.
The P-Element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI) group of proteins plays a key role in RNA interference, particularly in the regulation of small non-coding RNAs. However, in recent years, PIWIs have gained attention in several diseases, mainly cancer. Therefore, the aim of this review was to evaluate current knowledge about the impact of PIWI proteins on cancer cells. PIWIs alter a number of pathways within cells, resulting in significant changes in cell behavior. Basic processes of cancer cells have been shown to be altered by either overexpression or inhibition of PIWIs. Regulation of apoptosis, metastasis, invasion, or proliferation of cancerous cells by these proteins proves their involvement in the progression of the malignancy. It has been revealed that PIWIs are also connected with cancer stem cells (CSCs), which proves their ability to become a therapeutic target. However, research on this topic is still fairly limited, and with significant differences between cancer types, it is necessary to refrain from making any decisive conclusions.
PIWI 蛋白在 RNA 干扰中发挥着关键作用，尤其是在调节小非编码 RNA 方面。然而，近年来，PIWI 在几种疾病中引起了关注，主要是癌症。因此，本综述旨在评估 PIWI 蛋白对癌细胞的影响的现有知识。PIWI 蛋白会改变细胞内的许多途径，从而导致细胞行为的重大变化。已经表明，PIWI 的过表达或抑制会改变癌细胞的基本过程。这些蛋白通过调节细胞凋亡、转移、侵袭或增殖来参与恶性肿瘤的进展。已经发现 PIWI 还与癌症干细胞 (CSC) 有关，这证明了它们成为治疗靶点的能力。然而，关于这个主题的研究仍然相当有限，而且由于癌症类型之间存在显著差异，因此有必要避免做出任何决定性的结论。
