[Nature] Mouse Genome Protection: Understanding the Role of the Miwi Protein
November 28, 2011
An international research team has announced a significant discovery in work uncovering a genetic cause of male infertility. Writing in the journal Nature, the team has discovered the role a particular protein plays in protecting the genome: specifically, the means by which the Miwi protein silences transposons in male mice.
Among other findings, the researchers have demonstrated conclusively that disrupting the mice's capacity for producing the functional Miwi protein with RNA slicer activity leads to an inability to create viable sperm. Adj. Assoc. Prof. 
Shinichiro Chuma and Dr. Mihoko Hosokawa of Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) contributed to the research, which was led by Dr. Ramesh S. Pillai at EMBL, France.
The work builds on an earlier study into genomic protection, providing a nearly complete picture of the Miwi-based transposon silencing mechanism.
Publication information
Miwi catalysis is required for piRNA amplification-independent LINE1 transposon silencing
Michael Reuter, Philipp Berninger, Shinichiro Chuma, Hardik Shah, Mihoko Hosokawa, Charlotta Funaya, Claude Antony, Ravi Sachidanandam, and Ramesh S. Pillai
Nature | DOI:10.1038/nature10672 | Published November 27, 2011
Related Link
"Protecting the Genome: New Transposon-Silencing Protein Discovered" (December 15, 2009)
Media coverage
- Mynavi News (November 29, 2011 web)
- Kyoto Shimbun (November 28, 2011 page 23)
- The Nikkei (November 28, 2011 page 11)
- Sankei Shimbun (November 28, 2011 page 26)