PXD066474-1

PXD066474 is an original dataset announced via ProteomeXchange.

Title	Target RNA recognition drives PIWI* complex assembly for transposon silencing
Description	PIWI clade Argonaute proteins and their associated piRNAs are essential guardians of genome integrity, silencing transposable elements through distinct nuclear and cytoplasmic pathways. Nuclear PIWI proteins direct heterochromatin formation to repress transposon transcription, while cytoplasmic PIWIs cleave transposon transcripts to initiate piRNA amplification. Both processes rely on target RNA recognition by PIWI–piRNA complexes, yet how this recognition leads to pathway-specific effector recruitment has remained unclear. Here, we show that target engagement triggers the formation of conserved PIWI* complexes—comprising a PIWI protein, a piRNA–target RNA duplex, a GTSF-family protein, and Maelstrom—that serve as molecular platforms to recruit downstream effectors. In Drosophila, nuclear Piwi* engages the SFiNX complex to induce transcriptional silencing, while cytoplasmic Aubergine* complexes recruit the helicase Spindle-E to promote piRNA biogenesis. Evolutionary analysis reveals that PIWI* complex formation is deeply conserved across metazoans, uncovering an ancient mechanism that couples small RNA-guided target recognition to effector function. These findings define a unifying molecular principle for piRNA-mediated silencing across cellular compartments.
HostingRepository	PRIDE
AnnounceDate	2025-08-11
AnnouncementXML	Submission_2025-08-11_07:40:47.071.xml
DigitalObjectIdentifier
ReviewLevel	Peer-reviewed dataset
DatasetOrigin	Original dataset
RepositorySupport	Unsupported dataset by repository
PrimarySubmitter	Richard Imre
SpeciesList	scientific name: Drosophila melanogaster (Fruit fly); NCBI TaxID: 7227;
ModificationList	methylthiolated residue; phosphorylated residue; monohydroxylated residue; deamidated residue
Instrument	Orbitrap Eclipse; Orbitrap Exploris 480

Revision	Datetime	Status	ChangeLog Entry
0	2025-07-23 08:20:02	ID requested
⏵ 1	2025-08-11 07:40:47	announced

10.1016/J.MOLCEL.2025.08.007;

submitter keyword: Small RNA pathways

Argonaute proteins

PIWI-piRNA pathway

transposon silencing

Drosophila germline

heterochromatin biology

piRNA biogenesis

Julius Fabian Brennecke
contact affiliation	2Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria.
contact email	julius.brennecke@imba.oeaw.ac.at
lab head
Richard Imre
contact affiliation	IMBA Vienna
contact email	richard.imre@imba.oeaw.ac.at
dataset submitter

Dataset FTP location NOTE: Most web browsers have now discontinued native support for FTP access within the browser window. But you can usually install another FTP app (we recommend FileZilla) and configure your browser to launch the external application when you click on this FTP link. Or otherwise, launch an app that supports FTP (like FileZilla) and use this address: ftp://ftp.pride.ebi.ac.uk/pride/data/archive/2025/08/PXD066474

PRIDE project URI

• PRIDE
  1. PXD066474
     1. Label: PRIDE project
     2. Name: Target RNA recognition drives PIWI* complex assembly for transposon silencing