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Review
. 2015 Dec:47-48:17-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2015.10.025. Epub 2015 Nov 12.

A piece of the pi(e): The diverse roles of animal piRNAs and their PIWI partners

Robyn S M Lim  1 , Toshie Kai  2
Affiliations
Review

A piece of the pi(e): The diverse roles of animal piRNAs and their PIWI partners

Robyn S M Lim et al. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Small non-coding RNAs are indispensable to many biological processes. A class of endogenous small RNAs, termed PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) because of their association with PIWI proteins, has known roles in safeguarding the genome against inordinate transposon mobilization, embryonic development, and stem cell regulation, among others. This review discusses the biogenesis of animal piRNAs and their diverse functions together with their PIWI protein partners, both in the germline and in somatic cells, and highlights the evolutionarily conserved aspects of these molecular players in animal biology.

Keywords: Evolutionary conservation; Gene regulation; PIWI protein; PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA); Transposable elements; piRNA biogenesis.

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