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piRNAs: biogenesis and their potential roles in cancer

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Abstract

With the length of about 26–31 nt, PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) is a small non-coding RNA (ncRNA) that interacts with PIWI proteins to form the piRNA silencing complex (piRISC). PIWI is a subfamily of Argonaute, and piRNA must bind to PIWI to exert its regulatory role. Current studies indicated that piRNA and PIWI are significantly abnormally expressed in gastric, breast, kidney, colon, and lung cancers, and are involved in the initiation, progression, and metastasis of cancers, which may be the potential diagnostic tools, prognostic markers, and therapeutic targets for cancers. By reviewing piRNA recent studies, this research summarized the mechanism of piRNA generation and the functions of piRNA/PIWI in gastric, breast, kidney, colon, and lung cancers, providing a reference value for further piRNA research.

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Abbreviations

ccRCC, clear cell renal cell carcinoma; CRC, colorectal cancer; ncRNA, non-coding RNA; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer; PIC, pre-initiation complex; PICS, piRNA biogenesis and chromosome segregation; piRNA, PIWI-interacting RNA; piRISC, piRNA silencing complex; pre-piRNA, piRNA precursor; RCC, renal cell carcinoma; TEs, transposon elements; Zuc, Zucchini; HSF-1, heat shock transcription factor-1; MTOR, mammalian or mechanical target of rapamycin

Funding

This work was supported partly by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81541153); Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Department (2016A050503046, 2015A050502048 and 2016B030309002); The Public Service Platform of South China Sea for R&D Marine Biomedicine Resources (GDMUK201808); Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory Zhanjiang (ZJW-2019-07); Zhanjiang Science and technology Plan (2017A06012); Research Project of “Excellent Innovative Talent Support Program” of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2018RCD13); and “Group-type” Special Supporting Project for Educational Talents in Universities (4SG19057G).

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  1. Binghong Guo and Dongpei Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Natural Drugs, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524023, China

    Binghong Guo & Xiao Zhu

  2. The Marine Biomedical Research Institute, Southern Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory Zhanjiang, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, 524023, China

    Binghong Guo & Xiao Zhu

  3. Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Dongpei Li

  4. First Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, 150040, China

    Likun Du

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Guo, B., Li, D., Du, L. et al. piRNAs: biogenesis and their potential roles in cancer. Cancer Metastasis Rev 39, 567–575 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10555-020-09863-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10555-020-09863-0

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