Argonaute: Difference between revisions

The '''Argonaute''' protein is a component of the RISC complex, central to the [[RNA_Interference|RNA-induced silencing]] in eukaryotic organisms <ref name='ref1'>pmid 22539551</ref>. It is found in all higher eukaryotes and it plays an important role in a variety of processes as diverse as embryonic development, cell diferentiation and transposon silencing. These proteins are evolutionarily conserved and can be divided in three subfamilies: Ago, Piwi and Wago. The first are ubiquitously expressed and interact with siRNAs or miRNAs to participate in post-transcriptional gene silencing, both by destabilizing mRNA or by repressing the translation event. Piwi proteins are generally restricted to the germ line and associate piRNAs to mediate silencing of mobile genetic elements <ref name='ref2'>pmid 18304383</ref>. The third and final subclass, Wago, are worm specific.  For more details see [[RNA Interference]].

There are two main structural features common to all Argonaute proteins: the [[PAZ|Paz domain]] and the [[PIWI|PIWI domain]]. Other structural features include the N domain and the Mid domain.