ArticleThe EMBO journal2025
PIWI proteins tether the piRNA biogenesis machinery to mitochondria during mammalian spermatogenesis.
Article in The EMBO journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- PIWI-piRNA Axis in Epilepsy: Bridging Epigenetic Regulation, Neuroinflammation, and Neuronal Excitability.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Review
- Spatiotemporal control of PIWI compartmentalization by mitochondrial scaffolds defines pachytene piRNA pathway organization.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- piRNA: Molecular Mechanisms from Germline Silencing to Somatic Regulation and Roles in Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Decoding Argonaute specificity: insights fromRNA (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Review
- Spatiotemporal control of PIWI compartmentalization by mitochondrial scaffolds defines pachytene piRNA pathway organization.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
piRNA biogenesis occurs in the intermitochondrial cement (IMC) in mammalian germ cells. The mechanisms by which IMC components engage mitochondria to form an efficient piRNA biogenesis machinery remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that PIWI proteins orchestrate the assembly and disassembly of the piRNA biogenesis machinery in mice. The mitochondrial-anchored protein ASZ1 specifically interacts with PIWIL2 and recruits PIWIL2 to IMC granules. Sequentially, piRNAs competitively bind PIWIL2, leading to ASZ1-PIWIL2 dissociation. In fetal male germ cells, ASZ1-PIWIL2-TDRD1 forms a seed complex to initiate the assembly of the piRNA biogenesis machinery. During postnatal meiosis, the TDRKH-PIWIL1-TDRD1 complex synergizes with the ASZ1-PIWIL2-TDRD1 complex to induce substantial IMC assembly and pachytene piRNA biogenesis through TDRD1-mediated phase separation. PIWI proteins act as bridges, tethering non-mitochondrial proteins to mitochondrial-anchored proteins in IMC granules with the assistance of TDRD1. Together, our findings establish the pivotal role of PIWI proteins in governing the spatiotemporal dynamics of piRNA biogenesis machinery during mammalian spermatogenesis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.