FUNCTION OF PIWIL3 IN MAMMALIAN OOCYTES

摘要

PIWIs are argonaute proteins that interact with small non-coding RNAs (PIWI interacting RNAs; piRNAs). PIWI-piRNA complexes serve to target transposons for degradation, and are crucial guardians of genome integrity. PIWIL3 is specifically and highly expressed in unfertilized human oocytes, but a homologue is absent in mouse and rat, hence conventional animal systems cannot be used to study the critical function of PIWIL3 before fertilization[1].