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School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, Korea
| Abstract |
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[Keywords: piRNA; miRNA; siRNA; Piwi; Argonaute; testis]
| Different classes of small RNAs |
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In mammals, only the miRNA class has been identified, and there have been no descriptions of any other class of endogenous small RNAs. This review will summarize recent findings of a previously unknown class of small RNAs specifically expressed in mammalian germline cells (Aravin et al. 2006
; Girard et al. 2006
; Grivna et al. 2006
; Watanabe et al. 2006
).
| Piwi subfamily proteins and spermatogenesis |
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The Argonaute family can be divided into Ago and Piwi subclades based on amino acid sequence similarities. In general, the Ago members are expressed ubiquitously and are associated with miRNAs and siRNAs. In contrast, the Piwi members are more restricted in germline cells and stem cells. Until recently, the RNAs associated with Piwi members remained unidentified.
The expression patterns and knockout phenotypes of mammalian Piwi members indicated that they play important roles during spermatogenesis (Fig. 2; Kuramochi-Miyagawa et al. 2001
; Deng and Lin 2002
). Mammalian spermatogenesis can be divided into three phases. The first phase is mitotic self-renewing of germline stem cells (spermatogonia), producing primary spermatocytes. The second phase is the meiosis of primary spermatocytes, which generates haploid round spermatids. The prophase of the first meiotic division progresses in the following order: leptotene, zygotene, pachytene, diplotene, and diakinesis. During the third phase (called spermiogenesis), the round spermatids undergo reorganization and morphological changes into spermatozoa.
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4) and three piwi members (MIWI, MILI/PIWIL2, and MIWI2/PIWIL4) in mice. The expression kinetics of MILI and MIWI are different (Fig. 2; Kuramochi-Miyagawa et al. 2001
It is unclear whether Drosophila piwi is the ortholog of mammalian Piwi proteins. Fly PIWI is expressed in the nuclei of germline cells as well as of the supporting somatic cells, whereas MIWI and MILI are found in the cytoplasm of germ cells (Cox et al. 1998
). In addition, fly piwi mutant shows defects not only in spermatogenesis but also in the maintenance of germline stem cells (Cox et al. 1998
). Drosophila aub, another member of the piwi subfamily, may be a closer homolog to Miwi and Mili because AUB is found in the cytoplasm of spermatogonia and spermatocytes. Loss of aub function leads to abnormal development of spermatocytes and round spermatids (Schmidt et al. 1999
).
| Discovery of piRNAs |
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30-nt piRNAs was made by simply looking at the total testis RNA on ethidium bromide (or SYBR green)-stained gel because piRNAs are much more abundant in testes than other small RNA species (Aravin et al. 2006
31 nt.
With an aim of identifying MIWI-associated small RNA, Hannon and colleagues (Girard et al. 2006
) first visualized testes RNA by pCp labeling at the 3' end (Grivna et al. 2006
). Intrigued by the abundant RNAs of unexpected size (2930 nt), they went on to sequence the RNAs. Apart from conventional cDNA cloning method, Hannon and colleagues also employed highly parallel pyrosequencing technology to obtain >50,000 RNA sequences for which they coined the name "piwi-interacting RNAs" (piRNAs). Despite intensive sequencing, many sequences were found only once, indicating that the piRNA population is extremely diverse.
Similarly, Tuschl and colleagues (Aravin et al. 2006
) investigated MILI-associated RNAs. By immunoprecipitation from testis lysate using anti-MILI antibody, they found that 26- to 28-nt RNAs are associated with MILI and that there are additional 29- to 31-nt RNA species that do not interact with MILI. Subsequent cloning resulted in >15,000 sequences.
Imai and colleagues (Watanabe et al. 2006
) cloned small RNAs not only from mouse testes but also from mouse oocytes. Cloning of testis small RNA yielded 381 clones of
27-nt RNAs. From oocytes, they isolated seven miRNAs and 40 potential rasiRNAs that are
22 nt in length. This suggests that piRNAs may have a specific role in male germline, although it is possible that oocyte-specific RNAs were underrepresented in the sample due to the limited number of oocytes in mouse ovaries.
Lin and colleagues (Grivna et al. 2006
) noticed that the
30-nt RNA band was not detectable in their Miwi-null mice (Girard et al. 2006
). The investigators then cloned 29- to 34-nt RNA isolated from total testicular RNA and discovered 40 different RNAs ranging from 25 to 35 nt (mainly 2931 nt). Among these, two overlapped with the Imai set (Watanabe et al. 2006
). These RNAs were precipitated specifically with anti-MIWI antibody, indicating that MIWI is associated with this class of RNA and is required for their accumulation.
Size distribution of cloned RNAs indicated that there are two distinct populations of piRNAs (Aravin et al. 2006
; Girard et al. 2006
; Grivna et al. 2006
; Watanabe et al. 2006
). piRNAs of the first group are 2931 nt in length and associated with MIWI protein. Consistent with their dependence on Miwi, their expression coincides with that of MIWI, which is from the midpachytene to the early round spermatid stage (Fig. 2). This group of piRNAs can be detected from day 15 mice but does not reach the maximal level until day 18. The second group includes slightly shorter piRNAs (2628 nt in length) that are preferentially associated with MILI (Fig. 2; Aravin et al. 2006
). Detected abundantly by day 14, MILI-associated RNAs are expressed as early as from spermatogonia and begin to diminish after the round spermatid stage. In adult mouse testes, the first group (29- to 31-nt piRNA) is more abundant than the second group (2628 nt). These two groups may be generated from the same loci via differential processing because the probes for some piRNAs can detect both
30-nt band and
26-nt band (Aravin et al. 2006
; Watanabe et al. 2006
). Determination of the termini by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) also revealed that the 5' ends of piRNA clones were invariable while the 3' ends were shorter by 2 nt in MILI-associated RNA clones (Aravin et al. 2006
). Whether these two groups of RNAs play distinct roles remains to be determined.
| Genomic distribution and characteristics of piRNAs |
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17% of piRNAs were mapped to repeat sequences (mostly corresponding to retrotransposons), this proportion is lower than expected by random sampling of 30-nt sequences from the genome (
40%). Imai and colleagues (Watanabe et al. 2006The vast majority of piRNAs (96% in Hannon set; 89% in Imai and Lin set; 81% in Tuschl set) are clustered in relatively short genomic loci, which range from <1 kb to >100 kb and contain 104500 small RNAs (Fig. 3). Importantly, almost all piRNAs in a given cluster are derived from the same orientation. This extreme strand bias indicates that piRNAs may be processed from a long primary transcript. In some clusters, one strand is changed abruptly to another strand (Fig. 3), suggesting that these bidirectional clusters may be transcribed divergently from a central promoter.
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86%) that is characteristic of small RNAs. For instance,
76% of miRNAs have U at the 5'-most position. The reason for this sequence bias remains unclear, but it has been proposed that RNA processing factors such as Dicer and Drosha cleave preferentially at the 5' side of U. | Unanswered questions and future directions |
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Although it was previously shown that human Piwi proteins can interact with Dicer (Sasaki et al. 2003
), it has yet to be determined whether RNase III-type enzymes such as Dicer and Drosha are indeed involved in piRNA biogenesis. Conditional knockout of Dicer and Drosha will help answer this question. Biochemical analysis of Piwi complex will also be required to identify the biogenesis factors for piRNA.
Perhaps the most crucial question is as to the function of piRNAs. Because null mice of Miwi and Mili show clear defects in spermatogenic cells, piRNAs may be involved in spermatogenesis possibly by regulating meiosis and/or suppressing retrotransposons. One possibility is that piRNAs act like miRNAs by guiding the Piwi complex to their target mRNAs whose activity is required for spermatogenesis regulation. However, most piRNAs are not complementary to mRNA, suggesting that they are unlikely to function as post-translational regulators of protein synthesis. In fact, it is conceivable that the target molecules may not be RNA molecules. Interestingly, individual piRNA sequences are not conserved, whereas piRNA loci are conserved in the syntenic regions of other mammalian species (Girard et al. 2006
). This led to the suggestion that piRNA generation process itself from these loci may be significant for the function (Girard et al. 2006
). Identification of the target molecules of the piRNAPiwi complex will be a crucial step toward understanding the functions of piRNAs. Genetic analyses on these loci will be necessary to elucidate the function of piRNAs. It will also be imperative to reveal the other protein components of the piRNAPiwi complex. Biochemical and cell biological analysis of Piwi proteins will provide insights into these enigmatic and intriguing RNA species.
| Note added in proof |
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| Footnotes |
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E-MAIL narrykim{at}snu.ac.kr; FAX 82-2-887-0244. ![]()
Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1456106
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