Journal
NATURE
Volume 453, Issue 7194, Pages 534-U8Publisher
NATURE RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1038/nature06904
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Funding
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Funding Source: Medline
- NCI NIH HHS [P01 CA013106-34] Funding Source: Medline
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM062534-08, R01 GM062534-07, R01 GM062534] Funding Source: Medline
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Pseudogenes populate the mammalian genome as remnants of artefactual incorporation of coding messenger RNAs into transposon pathways(1). Here we show that a subset of pseudogenes generates endogenous small interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs) in mouse oocytes. These endo-siRNAs are often processed from double-stranded RNAs formed by hybridization of spliced transcripts from protein-coding genes to antisense transcripts from homologous pseudogenes. An inverted repeat pseudogene can also generate abundant small RNAs directly. A second class of endosiRNAs may enforce repression of mobile genetic elements, acting together with Piwi-interacting RNAs. Loss of Dicer, a protein integral to small RNA production, increases expression of endosiRNA targets, demonstrating their regulatory activity. Our findings indicate a function for pseudogenes in regulating gene expression by means of the RNA interference pathway and may, in part, explain the evolutionary pressure to conserve argonautemediated catalysis in mammals.
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