ArticleCell2012
piRNAs initiate an epigenetic memory of nonself RNA in the C. elegans germline.
Article in Cell, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 357 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
357 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 626 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- TurboID proximity labeling reveals protein interaction networks for germline Argonautes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- DivergenteLife · 2026Article
- Review
- The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway mediates selective degradation of unloaded Argonaute proteins in C. elegans.Genetics · 2026Article
- Reproductive phasiRNAs are the piRNAs of plants.Trends in genetics : TIG · 2026Review
- A mammalian-like piRNA pathway in Axolotl reveals the origins of piRNA-directed DNA methylation.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
- Epimutations: raw material for evolution?The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Genetic heritage of war: exploring transgenerational inheritance of PTSD and its molecular background.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026Review
- A SET domain-containing protein and HCF-1 maintain transgenerational epigenetic memory.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Epigenetic silencing is a barrier to editing the X chromosome using the SEC-based CRISPR/Cas9 knock-in protocol inmicroPublication biology · 2026Article
- Engineering the auxin-inducible degron system for tunable in vivo control of organismal physiology.Nature communications · 2025Article
- TurboID-based proximity labeling identifies novel germline proteins that maintain E granule integrity and small RNA homeostasis in C. elegans.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Article
- The H3K27me3 reader UAD-2 recruits a TAF-12-containing transcription machinery to initiate piRNA expression within heterochromatic clusters.Nature communications · 2025Article
- RG motifs promote piRNA-mediated gene silencing in C. elegans.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Dual roles of EGO-1 and RRF-1 in regulating germline exo-RNAi efficiency in Caenorhabditis elegans.EMBO reports · 2025Article
- A unified framework governing the establishment and maintenance of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.Genetics · 2025Article
- A genetic framework for RNAi inheritance in Caenorhabditis elegans.EMBO reports · 2025Article
- A nuclear pore-anchored condensate enables germ granule organization and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2025Article
- WAGO-1 is a sexually dimorphic Argonaute protein required for proper germ granule structure and gametogenesis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
297 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Organisms employ a fascinating array of strategies to silence invasive nucleic acids such as transposons and viruses. Although evidence exists for several pathways that detect foreign sequences, including pathways that sense copy number, unpaired DNA, or aberrant RNA (e.g., dsRNA), in many cases, the mechanisms used to distinguish "self" from "nonself" nucleic acids remain mysterious. Here, we describe an RNA-induced epigenetic silencing pathway that permanently silences single-copy transgenes. We show that the Piwi Argonaute PRG-1 and its genomically encoded piRNA cofactors initiate permanent silencing, and maintenance depends on chromatin factors and the WAGO Argonaute pathway. Our findings support a model in which PRG-1 scans for foreign sequences and two other Argonaute pathways serve as epigenetic memories of "self" and "nonself" RNAs. These findings suggest how organisms can utilize RNAi-related mechanisms to detect foreign sequences not by any molecular signature, but by comparing the foreign sequence to a memory of previous gene expression.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.