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PIWI proteins may also connect to cancer stem cells, suggesting therapeutic potential.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mechanisms-behind-the-impact-of-piwi-proteins-on-cancer-cells-literature-review/331565/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mechanisms-behind-the-impact-of-piwi-proteins-on-cancer-cells-literature-review/331565.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Evangeline","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the main purpose of this literature review?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"To evaluate current knowledge about how PIWI proteins impact cancer cells, focusing on their effects on cellular pathways and cancer-related behaviors.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How do PIWI proteins influence cancer cell behavior?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"They alter multiple intracellular signaling and regulatory pathways, leading to significant changes in apoptosis, metastasis, invasion, and proliferation.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why are PIWI proteins considered potential therapeutic targets?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The review connects PIWI proteins with cancer stem cells, indicating they may be targeted in therapy, although research remains limited and conclusions vary by cancer type.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},331565,1790722997,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":107,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},13056703019662,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/be000253a8e92610077?_k=1778726343310543188","Review  \nMechanisms Behind the Impact of PIWI Proteins on Cancer Cells: Literature Review  \nPiotr Limanówka , Błaej Ochman and Elbieta ´Swi˛etochowska *  \nCitation: Limanówka, P.; Ochman, B.;´Swi˛etochowska, E. Mechanisms Behind the Impact of PIWI Proteins on Cancer Cells: Literature Review. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25, 12217 . [https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms](https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms)[ ](https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms)252212217  \nAcademic Editors: Stergios Boussiosand Matin Sheriff  \nReceived: 30 September 2024  \nRevised: 9 November 2024  \nAccepted: 12 November 2024  \nPublished: 14 November 2024  \nCopyright: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) .  \nDepartment of Medical and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of  \nSilesia, 19 Jordana, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland; [s82955@365.sum.edu.pl](s82955@365.sum.edu.pl) (P.L.); [d201228@365.sum.edu.pl](d201228@365.sum.edu.pl) (B.O.)  \n* Correspondence: [eswietochowska@sum.edu.pl](eswietochowska@sum.edu.pl)  \nAbstract: The P-Element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI) group of proteins plays a key role in RNA interference, particularly in the regulation of small non-coding RNAs. However, in recent years, PIWIs have gained attention in several diseases, mainly cancer. Therefore, the aim of this review was to evaluate current knowledge about the impact of PIWI proteins on cancer cells. PIWIs alter a number of pathways within cells, resulting in significant changes in cell behavior. Basic processes of cancer cells have been shown to be altered by either overexpression or inhibition of PIWIs. Regulation of apoptosis, metastasis, invasion, or proliferation of cancerous cells by these proteins proves their involvement in the progression of the malignancy. It has been revealed that PIWIs are also connected with cancer stem cells (CSCs), which proves their ability to become a therapeutic target. However, research on this topic is still fairly limited, and with significant differences between cancer types, it is necessary to refrain from making any decisive conclusions.  \nKeywords: PIWI; signal pathway; cancer  \n1. Introduction  \nP-Element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI) proteins belong to the highly conserved Argonaute family, primarily implicated in RNA interference mechanisms [1] . Since their characterization in 1997, PIWI proteins have been recognized as essential in the division process of germline stem cells (GSCs) [2], particularly in enabling self-renewal division of GSCs [3] . Structurally, PIWI proteins contain two RNA-binding domains: the N-terminal PAZ domain region, comprising approximately 110 amino acids, and the C-terminal 300-amino-acid Piwi domain [4] . There are four known human PIWI homologs: PIWIL1 (HIWI), PIWIL2 (HILI), PIWIL4 (HIWI2), and PIWIL3 (HIWI3), all of which have been shown tobe expressed in a number of different cancer tissues [5] . The PIWIL1 protein is encoded by the HIWI gene, which is located at the long arm of chromosome 12, band 12q24.33 . This region produces a 3.6 kb mRNA that can be translated into a highly basic protein consisting of 852 amino acids, with a molecular weight (Mw) of 96.56 kDa. The PIWIL2 protein, encoded by the HILI (PIWIL2) gene on chromosome 8, comprises 973 amino acids and has a Mw of around 109.85 kDa. The HIWI3 (PIWIL3) gene, located on chromosome 22, encodes the PIWIL3 protein, which is 882 amino acids in length and has a Mw of 101.12 kDa. The PIWIL4 protein, encoded by the HIWI2 (PIWIL4) gene on chromosome 11, consists of 852 amino acids, with an approximate Mw of 96.59 kDa [6,7] .  \nPIWI proteins bind to a class of small non-coding RNAs known as piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) [8] . These piRNAs, typically ","cbCaijYu6WPPYEYQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijYu6WPPYEYQ","pdf",1841916,18,"English","# Abstract\n# Keywords\n# 1. Introduction","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of this literature review?\",\"answer\":\"To evaluate current knowledge about how PIWI proteins impact cancer cells, focusing on their effects on cellular pathways and cancer-related behaviors.\"},{\"question\":\"How do PIWI proteins influence cancer cell behavior?\",\"answer\":\"They alter multiple intracellular signaling and regulatory pathways, leading to significant changes in apoptosis, metastasis, invasion, and proliferation.\"},{\"question\":\"Why are PIWI proteins considered potential therapeutic targets?\",\"answer\":\"The review connects PIWI proteins with cancer stem cells, indicating they may be targeted in therapy, although research remains limited and conclusions vary by cancer type.\"}]","Mechanisms Behind the Impact of PIWI Proteins on Cancer Cells - Literature Review | PDF",1789994008,45]