Characterization of piRNAs across postnatal development in mouse brain.

Yanal Ghosheh,Timothy Ravasi,Loqmane Seridi,Hazuki Takahashi,Valerio Orlando,Taewoo Ryu,Piero Carninci

doi:10.1038/srep25039

Abstract

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are responsible for maintaining the genome stability by silencing retrotransposons in germline tissues– where piRNAs were first discovered and thought to be restricted. Recently, novel functions were reported for piRNAs in germline and somatic cells. Using deep sequencing of small RNAs and CAGE of postnatal development of mouse brain, we identified piRNAs only in adult mouse brain. These piRNAs have similar sequence length as those of MILI-bound piRNAs. In addition, we predicted novel candidate regulators and putative targets of adult brain piRNAs.

Highlights

PIWI-interacting RNAs are short non-coding RNAs that protect the genome integrity by silencing transposable elements (TEs)[1,2,3,4,5,6]
To investigate whether PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) were present in mouse brain, we deep-sequenced small RNAs from brain and testes tissues
We characterize piRNA in mouse brain throughout postnatal development and show that piRNAs are only present in the adult stage of brain development

Summary

Introduction

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that protect the genome integrity by silencing transposable elements (TEs)[1,2,3,4,5,6] They are scattered in genomic clusters that can span up to hundreds of kilobases, and sometimes overlap[7]. Pre-pachytene piRNAs are most abundant prior to the pachytene stage in meiosis but maintain a basal expression level even during later stages[8] They are known to target TEs and cleave them using the slicer activity of the PIWI domain[16]. Whereas pachytene piRNAs reach their peak expression during the pachytene stage of meiosis and are more abundant[8] They are primarily derived from intergenic regions and are reported to control expression of protein-coding genes[17]. We predicted novel candidate regulators and potential targets of piRNAs in adult mouse brain

Methods

Results

Conclusion