SPOCD1 is an essential executor of piRNA-directed de novo DNA methylation.

ABSTRACT: In mammals, the acquisition of the germline from the soma provides the germline with an essential challenge: the need to erase and reset genomic methylation¹. In the male germline, RNA-directed DNA methylation silences young, active transposable elements^2-4. The PIWI protein MIWI2 (PIWIL4) and its associated PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) instruct DNA methylation of transposable elements^3,5. piRNAs are proposed to tether MIWI2 to nascent transposable element transcripts; however, the mechanism by which MIWI2 directs the de novo methylation of transposable elements is poorly understood, although central to the immortality of the germline. Here we define the interactome of MIWI2 in mouse fetal gonocytes undergoing de novo genome methylation and identify a pre

SUBMITTER: Zoch A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7612247 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature