The piRNA Pathway is Essential for Mammalian Female Fertility
ZHANG Hongdao, ZHANG Ying, LÜ Xiaolong, WU Ligang*
piRNAs (piwi-interacting RNAs) are sncRNAs (small non-coding RNAs) and function as an adaptive immune system to safeguard genome integrity in the germ cells. Despite its essential role for both female and male reproduction in flies and zebrafish, piRNA pathway appears to be dispensable for female fertility in the mouse, leading to the assumption that piRNA pathway is not required for female fertility in mammals. Here, this group developed a single cell sequencing method for sncRNAs, and profiled the sncRNAs in oocytes of various mammals. Intriguingly, this group found that the profile of both Piwis and piRNAs expressed in mouse oocytes are not representative in other mammals. Thus, this group reexamined the function of piRNA pathway using geneticmodified golden hamsters. Notably, this group found that piRNA pathway is essential for both male and female fertility in golden hamsters. Such an indispensable function of piRNA pathway for oogenesis is probably common in most mammalian species, including humans. Therefore, current study opens an avenue for understanding the aetiology of female infertility and provides an informative animal model for developing medicine and cure
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