Timed regulation of Piwi-interacting RNAs expression during rat liver regeneration
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ABSTRACT: Small noncoding (snc) RNAs represent a growing family of transcripts that regulate key cellular processes, including mRNA degradation, translational repression and transcriptional gene silencing. Among these, the PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), a major class of sncRNAs initially identified in the germline of a variety of species, are now being found to be functionally active also in somatic cells. However, whether the Piwi/piRNA pathway is associated with fundamental biological processes, such as cell cycle progression, remains elusive. Here we investigated the possibility that piRNAs are expressed in liver and modulated during regenerative proliferation of this organ. To this aim, smallRNA-Seq was applied to identify and quantitate expression of these RNAs in rat liver before, during and after the wave of cell proliferation that follows partial hepatectomy (PH). Q-PCR analysis revealed the presence in rat liver of two PIWI (PIWI-Like) subfamily members (PIWIL2/HILI and, to a much lower level, PIWIL4/HIWI2) and other components of the piRNA biogenesis pathways, suggesting that this is present and functional in hepatocytes. Indeed, ~1400 piRNAs originally identified in rat and other mammalian germline cells are expressed in adult rat liver, including 72 that show timed changes in expression during cell cycle progression. Most piRNAs are up-regulated 24-48h after hepatectomy, a timing that corresponds to cell transition through the S phase, and return to basal levels by 168 h, when organ regeneration is completed and hepatocytes reach quiescence. These results indicate that the piRNA pathway is active in somatic cells and, more important, that it is subject to regulation during physiological processes, such as cell proliferation, when piRNAs may exert their regulatory functions on the cell genome and transcriptome. smallRNA-Seq was applied to identify and quantitate expression of RNAs in rat liver before and after partial hepatectomy (PH).
ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus
SUBMITTER: Adnan Hashim
PROVIDER: E-GEOD-55783 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
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