Piwi Like Protein 3 (PIWIL3)

PIWIL3 belongs to the Argonaute family of proteins, which function in development and maintenance of germline stem cells. By searching for sequences similar to PIWIL1, followed by PCR of a testis cDNA library, Sasaki et al. (2003) cloned PIWIL3. Like all other Argonaute family members, PIWIL3 contains a central PAZ motif and a C-terminal PIWI motif. PCR analysis of adult and fetal tissues detected PIWIL3 only in adult testis.

By coimmunoprecipitation of transfected human kidney cell lysates, Sasaki et al. (2003) demonstrated that PIWIL3 associated with DICER (DICER1).By genomic sequence analysis, Sasaki et al. (2003) mapped the PIWIL3 gene to chromosome 22q11.2.