September 17, 2021
Keio University School of Medicine
A joint research group from Kyushu University and Keio University, including Senior Lecturer Hideki Hasuwa of the Collaborative Research Resources (Laboratory Animal Center) and Professor Haruhiko Shiomi of the Department of Molecular Biology, both at the Keio University School of Medicine, has applied genome-editing technology to golden hamsters. They have revealed that the absence of PIWI proteins and 20–30 nucleotide-long non-coding RNAs (piRNAs) in oocytes leads to severe defects in embryonic development after fertilization.
Previously, analysis of mice lacking the Piwi gene had shown that the PIWI-piRNA pathway in mammals is strongly expressed only in male germ cells and is essential for spermatogenesis. However, since most mammals, excluding mice, also strongly express PIWI genes in female germ cells, it was presumed that this pathway also functions in human oocytes. In this study, using golden hamsters, which, like humans, strongly express PIWI genes in both male and female germ cells, the researchers elucidated the function of PIWI genes in oocytes and in embryos derived from them.
The findings of this research are expected to lead to (1) a deeper understanding of gene expression regulation and genomic structural changes by PIWI gene and non-coding RNA complexes in oocytes and pre-implantation embryos, and (2) the establishment of genetically modified golden hamsters as new model animals for human diseases.
This research was published in the online edition of "Nature Cell Biology" on September 6, 2021 (US Eastern Standard Time).
Please see below for the full press release.