Fig 1: PIWI proteins were dysregulated in postmortem sALS samples. A RT-qPCR for PIWIL1, PIWIL2, PIWIL3, PIWIL4 expression of mRNA using the ΔCT method. RT-qPCR using the △CT method for PIWIL1 and PIWIL4 showed significant differences between ALS and control samples, while PIWIL2 and PIWIL3 showed non-significant differences. B RT-qPCR results of postmortem PIWIL1 and PIWIL4 expression using a control pool for the standard curve method. One-tailed t-test and the Wilcoxon test were used for statistical calculations. PIWIL1 was upregulated 1.2–1.9-fold in sALS patients compared to the mean of control samples, by the standard curve method. C Western blot analysis of PIWIL1 and PIWIL4 in postmortem samples. The increase of PIWIL1 protein and the decrease of PIWIL4 protein were confirmed in ALS samples. D Quantitative analysis of PIWIL1 and PIWIL4 in a Western blot normalized to GAPDH. The increase of PIWIL1 protein and the decrease of PIWIL4 protein were statistically confirmed. ns: not significant. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01
Fig 2: Immunohistochemistry of protein expression of Piwil1A, B. Piwil2 C, D. and Piwil4 E, F. in patient lymph nodes. Arrows indicate representative HRS cells.
Fig 3: PIWIL1, PIWIL2 and PIWIL4 expression in cHLPIWIL1 A. PIWIL2 B. and PIWIL4 C. mRNA expression in four cHL cell lines. PIWIL2-4 were showed as RQ calibrated with the expression of peripheral blood B-cells, while PIWIL1 was showed in 2−ΔCt since it is not expressed in B-cells. The graph shows the median and SEM of three technical replicates. Western blot for PIWIL1 D. PIWIL2 E. and PIWIL4 F. in HL cell lines.
Fig 4: piR-36741 bound to METTL3 to regulate the m6A activity of METTL3. (A) RNA pull-down assay was performed using bio-NC or bio-piR-36741 to verify the binding of piR-36741 and METTL3. (B–F) RIP assay was carried out to confirm the binding of piR-36741 with METTL3, METTL14, WTAP, FTO and ALKBH5. (G) Biotin-based RNA pull-down assay was used to detect the specific binding of piR-36741 with PIWIL4. (H) RIP assay was performed to verify the binding piR-36741 with PIWIL4. (I) BMSCs were transfected with METTL3 and PIWIL4 overexpression vectors, and co-IP was carried out using specific antibodies, and the immunocomplex were purified and subjected to Western blotting analysis using METTL3 or PIWIL4 antibodies. (J) RNA pull-down assay was used to confirm the binding ability of purified PIWIL4 or METTL3 proteins with biotin-labelled piR-36741. (K, L) BMSCs were transfected with mimic-piR-36741, antagomir-piR-36741 or respective controls for 24 h, and the mRNA and protein levels of METTL3 were determined. (M, N) m6A levels of BMSCs with or without piR-36741/PIWIL4 overexpression were detected by using the EpiQuik™ m6A RNA methylation quantification kit. N = 5 in each group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Each test was independently repeated at least three times.
Fig 5: Rt‒PCR of the relative expression of PIWIL1, PIWIL2, and PIWIL4 in different ovarian tissues.
Supplier Page from Abcam for Anti-PIWIL4/PIWI antibody