| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10767240 | Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications | 2007 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
The field of epigenetics has made progress by the identification of the small RNA-mediated epigenetic modification. However, little is known about the key proteins. Here, we report that the human PIWI-like family is a candidate protein that is involved in the pathway responsible for chromatin remodeling. The PIWI-like family proteins, expressed as the Flag-fusion proteins, formed a bulky body and localized to the nuclear periphery. Transient transfection of PIWI-like 4 (PIWIL4), only member of the PIWI-like family that was ubiquitously expressed in human tissues, induced histone H3 lysine 9 methylation at the p16Ink4a (CDKN2A) locus. The elevated level of histone methylation resulted in the downregulation of the p16Ink4a gene. These results suggest PIWIL4 plays important roles in the chromatin-modifying pathway in human somatic cells.
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Authors
Keiki Sugimoto, Hidenori Kage, Naomi Aki, Atsushi Sano, Hiroshi Kitagawa, Takahide Nagase, Yutaka Yatomi, Nobuya Ohishi, Daiya Takai,