Piwi-interacting RNA

Piwi -interacting RNAs ( piRNAs ) are a class discovered in 2006 by RNAs that are slightly longer than miRNAs and siRNAs ( 26-31 nt). These RNAs bind - as implied by the name - on PIWI proteins and are found only in gametes ( germline ), where they are essential for spermatogenesis. They are involved in the silencing of retrotransposons. We identified these RNAs in the laboratories of Greg Hannon, Toshiaki Watanabe, Haifan Lin, Dimos Gaidatzis, Mihaela Zavolan and Tom Tuschl.