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The nascent RNA binding complex SFiNX licenses piRNA-guided heterochromatin formation

Journal Article · · Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
The PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway protects genome integrity in part through establishing repressive heterochromatin at transposon loci. Silencing requires piRNA-guided targeting of nuclear PIWI proteins to nascent transposon transcripts, yet the subsequent molecular events are not understood. In this work, we identify SFiNX (silencing factor interacting nuclear export variant), an interdependent protein complex required for Piwi-mediated cotranscriptional silencing inDrosophila. SFiNX consists of Nxf2–Nxt1, a gonad-specific variant of the heterodimeric messenger RNA export receptor Nxf1–Nxt1 and the Piwi-associated protein Panoramix. SFiNX mutant flies are sterile and exhibit transposon derepression because piRNA-loaded Piwi is unable to establish heterochromatin. Within SFiNX, Panoramix recruits heterochromatin effectors, while the RNA binding protein Nxf2 licenses cotranscriptional silencing. Our data reveal how Nxf2 might have evolved from an RNA transport receptor into a cotranscriptional silencing factor. Thus, NXF variants, which are abundant in metazoans, can have diverse molecular functions and might have been coopted for host genome defense more broadly.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
Austrian Academy of Sciences; Austrian Science Fund (FWF); Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds; European Community; Maloris Foundation; National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS); National Institutes of Health (NIH); Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1561310
Journal Information:
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Journal Name: Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 26; ISSN 1545-9993
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH

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Cited By (11)

Crystal structure of Drosophila Piwi journal February 2020
piRNA-guided co-transcriptional silencing coopts nuclear export factors. text January 2019
Environmentally-Induced Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: Implication of PIWI Interacting RNAs journal September 2019
Assembly and Function of Gonad-Specific Non-Membranous Organelles in Drosophila piRNA Biogenesis journal November 2019
PIWI family proteins as prognostic markers in cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis journal December 2019
A Pandas complex adapted for piRNA-guided transcriptional silencing and heterochromatin formation journal September 2019
Specialization of the Drosophila nuclear export family protein Nxf3 for piRNA precursor export journal August 2019
Establishment and evolution of heterochromatin journal February 2020
Nuclear RNA export factor variant initiates piRNA‐guided co‐transcriptional silencing journal July 2019
Specialization of the Drosophila nuclear export family protein Nxf3 for piRNA precursor export. text January 2019
piRNA-guided co-transcriptional silencing coopts nuclear export factors journal June 2019

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