近日，英國(guó)愛丁堡大學(xué)Dónal O’Carroll研究組利用Bigfoot全光譜超高速流式細(xì)胞分選儀，在《Nature》上發(fā)表了題為“Two-factor authentication underpins the precision of the piRNA pathway”的重磅文章，揭示了SPOCD1 精確控制 DNA 甲基化的潛在機(jī)制。

在雄性小鼠種系發(fā)育過(guò)程中，PIWI-interacting RNA（piRNA）通路引導(dǎo)著年輕、活躍的轉(zhuǎn)座子的 DNA 甲基化【1】。piRNA 將 PIWI 蛋白 MIWI2（PIWIL4）系在新生轉(zhuǎn)座子轉(zhuǎn)錄本上，通過(guò) SPOCD1 精確地控制 DNA 甲基化【2-5】。然而，確保這種精確性的潛在機(jī)制仍然未知。

下面是此文中用到的Bigfoot全光譜超高速流式細(xì)胞分選儀的簡(jiǎn)介

參考文獻(xiàn)（向上滑動(dòng)查看更多）：

1. Ozata, D. M., Gainetdinov, I., Zoch, A., O’Carroll, D. & Zamore, P. D. PIWI-interacting RNAs: small RNAs with big functions. Nat. Rev. Genet. 20, 89–108 (2019).

2. De Fazio, S. et al. The endonuclease activity of Mili fuels piRNA amplification that silences LINE1 elements. Nature 480, 259–263 (2011).

3. Sch?pp, T. et al. TEX15 is an essential executor of MIWI2-directed transposon DNA methylation and silencing. Nat. Commun. 11, 3739 (2020).

4. Zoch, A. et al. SPOCD1 is an essential executor of piRNA-directed de novo DNA methylation. Nature 584, 635–639 (2020).

5. Zoch, A. et al. C19ORF84 connects piRNA and DNA methylation machineries to defend the mammalian germ line. Mol Cell https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2024.01.014 (2024).

6. Du, Y. et al. Structural mechanism of bivalent histone H3K4me3K9me3 recognition by the Spindlin1/C11orf84 complex in rRNA transcription activation. Nat. Commun. 12, 949 (2021).