PNLDC1 mediated piRNA trimming. Mus musculus strain:C57BL/6

Germ cell specific small RNA, named PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) is essential for mouse spermatogenesis. piRNA is generated by sequential cleavage from single stranded RNA to pre-piRNA, then piRNA. pre-piRNA is slightly longer and it is trimmed by trimmer proteins to be matured piRNA. Recently, several proteins were reported to act as Trimmer, one of them is PNLDC1 in mouse. Here, we reported that mouse PNLDC1 also act as Trimmer and PNLDC1-mediated piRNA trimming is essential for proper spermatogenesis at meitic and post-meiotic phases.

生殖细胞特异性小RNA——PIWI互作RNA（PIWI-interacting RNA，piRNA）对小鼠精子发生至关重要。piRNA的生物合成需经两步依次切割：首先由单链RNA（single stranded RNA）切割产生前体piRNA（pre-piRNA），随后进一步加工为成熟piRNA。前体piRNA长度略长，需经修剪蛋白（trimmer proteins）的修剪以获得成熟结构。此前已有研究报道了多种可作为修剪蛋白的因子，小鼠源PNLDC1即为其中之一。本研究证实，小鼠PNLDC1同样可作为修剪蛋白，且其介导的piRNA修剪过程对小鼠减数分裂及减数分裂后阶段的正常精子发生不可或缺。