title: Mili, a mammalian member of piwi family gene, is essential for spermatogenesis.
abstract: The piwi family genes, which are defined by conserved PAZ and Piwi domains, play important roles in stem cell self-renewal, RNA silencing, and translational regulation in various organisms. To reveal the function of the mammalian homolog of piwi, we produced and analyzed mice with targeted mutations in the Mili gene, which is one of three mouse homologs of piwi. Spermatogenesis in the MILI-null mice was blocked completely at the early prophase of the first meiosis, from the zygotene to early pachytene, and the mice were sterile. However, primordial germ cell development and female germ cell production were not disturbed. Furthermore, MILI bound to MVH, which is an essential factor during the early spermatocyte stage. The similarities in the phenotypes of the MILI- and MVH-deficient mice and in the physical binding properties of MILI and MVH indicate a functional association of these proteins in post-transcriptional regulation. These data indicate that MILI is essential for the differentiation of spermatocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamada-oka, Suita-shi, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Satomi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuramochi-Miyagawa
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Takashi W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Ijiri
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Isobe
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Asada
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikawa
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwai
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okabe
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Haifan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D018390:Gene Targeting; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D005810:Multigene Family; D009154:Mutation; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020365:RNA Helicases / Q000378:metabolism; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D013737:Testis / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D060565:Argonaute Proteins; C448522:Piwil1 protein, mouse; C448521:Piwil2 protein, mouse; D011506:Proteins; C090864:Ddx4 protein, mouse; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D020365:RNA Helicases