| Literature DB >> 32166374 |
Johannes Pammer1, Heidi Rossiter2, Martin Bilban3, Leopold Eckhart2, Maria Buchberger2, Laura Monschein4, Michael Mildner2.
Abstract
PIWI proteins play multiple roles in germline stem cell maintenance and self-renewal. PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) associate with PIWI proteins, form effector complexes and maintain genome integrity and function in the regulation of gene expression by epigenetic modifications. Both are involved in cancer development. In this study, we investigated the expression of PIWIL-2 and piRNAs in normal human skin and epithelial tumors and its regulation during keratinocyte (KC) differentiation. Immunohistochemistry showed that PIWIL-2 was regularly expressed in the epidermis and adnexal tissue with strongest expression in sebaceous glands. Cell culture studies revealed an association of PIWIL-2 expression with the state of differentiated KC. In contrast, the PIWIL-2 expression pattern did not correlate with stem cell compartments or malignancy. piRNAs were consistently detected in KC in vitro by next-generation sequencing and the expression levels of numerous piRNAs were regulated during KC differentiation. Epidermal piRNAs were predominantly derived from processed snoRNAs (C/D-box snoRNAs), tRNAs and protein coding genes. Our data indicate that components of the PIWIL-2-piRNA pathway are present in epithelial cells of the skin and are regulated in the context of KC differentiation, suggesting a role of somatic gene regulation. However, putative roles in the maintenance of stem cell compartments or the development of malignancy in the skin were not supported by this study.Entities:
Keywords: Carcinoma; Hili; Keratinocyte; PIWIL2; Skin; ncRNA; piRNA
Mesh:
Substances:
Year: 2020 PMID: 32166374 PMCID: PMC7548280 DOI: 10.1007/s00403-020-02052-7
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Arch Dermatol Res ISSN: 0340-3696 Impact factor: 3.017
Fig. 1PIWIL-2 expression in human skin. An example of regular human skin showing moderate staining intensity for PIWIL-2 of keratinocyte nuclei (a). The inhomogeneous expression was mostly found in basal and suprabasal epidermal cells, the staining expression was usually weaker than in this example. Luminal cells of eccrine glands also stained weakly and inconsistently. In contrast, myoepithelial cells showed moderate cytoplasmic staining (b). Epithelial cells of the hair follicle were mostly negative, whereas this example shows weak to moderate reactivity for PIWIL-2 of the medulla (c). Strong and consistent expression of PIWIL-2 was found in mature sebocytes. In contrast, the basal layer of undifferentiated cells of sebaceous glands was negative to weakly positive (d). A basal cell carcinoma shows a staining intensity comparable to that of regular epidermal cells (e). Peripherally located undifferentiated cells of a squamous cell carcinoma stain moderately for PIWIL-2 (f). Scale bar = 100 µm
Fig. 2PIWIL-2 expression in murine and human keratinocytes and sebaceous glands by Western blotting. a Mouse preputial glands showed 130 kD PIWIL-2 bands, corresponding to the full-length protein as well as additional bands of ~ 55–60 and 20 kD corresponding to splice variants. Mouse KCs contained only smaller PIWIL-2 protein species. Human KC showed bands ~ 130 kD, corresponding to the full-length protein and only weak staining for smaller bands. b Treatment of human KCs with a specific siRNA against PIWIL-2 led to the disappearance of the PIWIL-2 band on Western blots. c In KC induced to differentiate in confluent culture PIWIL-2 expression increased during the first 4 days and later decreased. d In contrast to mouse preputial glands, mouse testis contained only PIWIL-2 protein species of 60 and 20
Fig. 3piRNAs expression is associated with the state of differentiated KC. Whereas 50 piRNAs were upregulated at least twofold (mean) in differentiating KC, 15 piRNAs showed a downregulation in differentiating KC by less than half