Title
Heterotypic piRNA Ping-Pong requires qin, a protein with both E3 ligase and Tudor domains
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology; Program in Molecular Medicine
Publication Date
2011-11-18
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Animals; Argonaute Proteins; Cell Nucleus; Computational Biology; DNA Damage; DNA Transposable Elements; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Fertility; *Gene Silencing; *Genome, Insect; Membrane Transport Proteins; Mutation; Oocytes; Ovary; Peptide Initiation Factors; Protein Structure, Tertiary; RNA Cleavage; RNA, Small Interfering; RNA-Induced Silencing Complex; Signal Transduction; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
Disciplines
Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology
Abstract
piRNAs guide PIWI proteins to silence transposons in animal germ cells. Reciprocal cycles of piRNA-directed RNA cleavage--catalyzed by the PIWI proteins Aubergine (Aub) and Argonaute3 (Ago3) in Drosophila melanogaster--expand the population of antisense piRNAs in response to transposon expression, a process called the Ping-Pong cycle. Heterotypic Ping-Pong between Aub and Ago3 ensures that antisense piRNAs predominate. We show that qin, a piRNA pathway gene whose protein product contains both E3 ligase and Tudor domains, colocalizes with Aub and Ago3 in nuage, a perinuclear structure implicated in transposon silencing. In qin mutants, less Ago3 binds Aub, futile Aub:Aub homotypic Ping-Pong prevails, antisense piRNAs decrease, many families of mobile genetic elements are reactivated, and DNA damage accumulates in nurse cells and oocytes. We propose that Qin enforces heterotypic Ping-Pong between Aub and Ago3, ensuring that transposons are silenced and maintaining the integrity of the germline genome.
Keywords
UMCCTS funding
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.molcel.2011.10.011
Source
Mol Cell. 2011 Nov 18;44(4):572-84. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2011.10.011. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Molecular cell
Related Resources
PubMed ID
22099305
Repository Citation
Zhang Z, Xu J, Koppetsch BS, Wang J, Tipping C, Ma S, Weng Z, Theurkauf WE, Zamore PD. (2011). Heterotypic piRNA Ping-Pong requires qin, a protein with both E3 ligase and Tudor domains. Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2011.10.011. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/bmp_pp/155
Comments
Author Zhao Zhang is a student in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.