Letter abstract
Nature Cell Biology 7, 1261 - 1266 (2005)
Published online: 13 November 2005 | doi:10.1038/ncb1333
There is an Erratum (December 2005) associated with this Letter.
A role for the P-body component GW182 in microRNA function
Jidong Liu1, Fabiola V. Rivas1, James Wohlschlegel2, John R. Yates, III2, Roy Parker3 & Gregory J. Hannon1
In animals, the majority of microRNAs regulate gene expression through the RNA interference (RNAi) machinery without inducing small-interfering RNA (siRNA)-directed mRNA cleavage1. Thus, the mechanisms by which microRNAs repress their targets have remained elusive. Recently, Argonaute proteins, which are key RNAi effector components, and their target mRNAs were shown to localize to cytoplasmic foci known as P-bodies or GW-bodies2, 3. Here, we show that the Argonaute proteins physically interact with a key P-/GW-body subunit, GW182. Silencing of GW182 delocalizes resident P-/GW-body proteins and impairs the silencing of microRNA reporters. Moreover, mutations that prevent Argonaute proteins from localizing in P-/GW-bodies prevent translational repression of mRNAs even when Argonaute is tethered to its target in a siRNA-independent fashion. Thus, our results support a functional link between cytoplasmic P-bodies and the ability of a microRNA to repress expression of a target mRNA.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Watson School of Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
- Department of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology & Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Correspondence to: Gregory J. Hannon1 e-mail: hannon@cshl.edu
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