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标题：Aberrant expression of select piRNA-pathway genes does not reactivate piRNA silencing in cancer cells
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作者：Pavol Genzor ; Seth C. Cordts ; Neha V. Bokil 等
期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2019
卷号：116
期号：23
页码：11111-11112
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1904498116
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Germline genes that are aberrantly expressed in nongermline cancer cells have the potential to be ideal targets for diagnosis and therapy due to their restricted physiological expression, their broad reactivation in various cancer types, and their immunogenic properties. Among such cancer/testis genes, components of the PIWI-interacting small RNA (piRNA) pathway are of particular interest, as they control mobile genetic elements (transposons) in germ cells and thus hold great potential to counteract genome instability in cancer. Here, we systematically investigate the potential reactivation of functional piRNA-silencing mechanisms in the aberrant context. While we observe expression of individual piRNA-pathway genes in cancer, we fail to detect the formation of functional piRNA-silencing complexes. Accordingly, the expression of a PIWI protein alone remains inconsequential to the cancer cell transcriptome. Our data provide a framework for the investigation of complex aberrant gene-expression signatures and establish that reactivation of piRNA silencing, if at all, is not a prevalent phenomenon in cancer cells.
关键词：RNA ; piRNA ; germline ; cancer ; transposon