title: Cloning and expression profiling of testis-expressed piRNA-like RNAs.
abstract: Using a novel small RNA cloning method, we identified 630 piRNA-like RNAs (pilRNAs) from the mouse testis, and 498 of them are novel. These pilRNA genes were mapped to all chromosomes as 71 clusters, and the majority of them ( approximately 84%) are derived from intergenic, intronic, and exonic sequences. One of the structural characteristics for pilRNAs is that a single locus can encode numerous homologous pilRNAs with overlapping sequences. Hundreds or even thousands of pilRNAs from a single pilRNA gene cluster are all produced from a single long transcript. Expression profiling for 64 pilRNAs revealed that approximately 14% of all the pilRNAs analyzed displayed a ubiquitous expression pattern, although the majority of ( approximately 86%) pilRNAs were preferentially or exclusively expressed in meiotic and haploid male germ cells of the testis. Our semiquantitative analyses also suggest that the testis is the organ with the highest expression of pilRNAs both in number and in abundance. The large number, high abundance, unique genomic locations, and biogenesis all suggest that pilRNAs have important regulatory roles not only in spermatogenesis but also in other biological processes.
authors: Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA.
authors: Seungil
authors: S
authors: Ro
authors: Chanjae
authors: C
authors: Park
authors: Rui
authors: R
authors: Song
authors: Dan
authors: D
authors: Nguyen
authors: Jingling
authors: J
authors: Jin
authors: Kenton M
authors: KM
authors: Sanders
authors: John R
authors: JR
authors: McCarrey
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Yan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D005810:Multigene Family; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000235:genetics*; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013737:Testis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D022661:RNA, Untranslated
references: Mech Dev. 2001 Aug;106(1-2):3-23
references: 11472831
references: Biol Reprod. 2007 Jul;77(1):37-44
references: 17344468
references: Nucleic Acids Res. 2003 Jan 1;31(1):51-4
references: 12519945
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Oct 14;100(21):12201-6
references: 14526100
references: Biol Reprod. 2004 Jul;71(1):319-30
references: 15028632
references: J Cell Biol. 1977 Jul;74(1):68-85
references: 874003
references: Prog Clin Biol Res. 1988;267:291-313
references: 3070565
references: Curr Top Dev Biol. 1998;37:141-200
references: 9352186
references: Semin Cell Dev Biol. 1998 Aug;9(4):451-7
references: 9813192
references: Gene. 2004 Dec 8;343(1):11-22
references: 15563828
references: Hum Mol Genet. 2005 Oct 1;14(19):2911-8
references: 16118233
references: Biol Reprod. 2005 Dec;73(6):1235-42
references: 16107607
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Feb 21;103(8):2647-52
references: 16477042
references: Genes Dev. 2006 Jul 1;20(13):1732-43
references: 16766679
references: Genes Dev. 2006 Jul 1;20(13):1709-14
references: 16766680
references: Nature. 2006 Jul 13;442(7099):199-202
references: 16751776
references: Nature. 2006 Jul 13;442(7099):203-7
references: 16751777
references: Science. 2006 Jul 21;313(5785):363-7
references: 16778019
references: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006 Dec 22;351(3):756-63
references: 17084816
references: Genome Res. 2002 Jun;12(6):996-1006
references: 12045153