PIWI/piRNA在癌症中的功能和机制

doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2021.05.001

Abstract

Abstract: PIWI proteins, a subfamily of PAZ/PIWI domain (PPD) family RNA-binding proteins, are best known for their functions in silencing transposons and germline development by partnering with small noncoding RNA called PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA). In addition to its prominent role in the germline, PIWI proteins are gaining increasing interests for cancer research because they are usually hardly expressed in somatic tissues but gain abnormal expression in cancer cells, making them promising targets for precision therapy. In this review, we first provide an overview on how PIWI proteins, together with piRNAs, multifacetedly regulate the expression of major classes of RNA in germ cells. Then, we summarize the expression and function of PIWI proteins and piRNAs in different types of cancer and consider the limitations and possible misunderstanding of PIWI and piRNA in cancer research. In addition, we discuss the recently discovered piRNA-independent functions and regulatory mechanisms of PIWI in cancer cells that have the traditional concept.

Key words: , PIWI, piRNA, cancer

SHI Shuo, WANG Chen, LIN Haifan. Function and mechanism of PIWI/piRNA in cancer[J]. Chinese Journal of Nature, 2021, 43(5): 313-322.

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Function and mechanism of PIWI/piRNA in cancer

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