# The Role of PIWI‐Interacting RNA in Urologic Carcinoma and Its Clinical Implications

**Authors:** Jiajia Cai, Shirui Jiang, Dongdong Lu, Ghulam Murtaza, Mingbang Wang, Yuqing Li, Da Shi, Yingrui Li, Hu Fang, Song Wu

PMC · DOI: 10.1002/cnr2.70272 · Cancer Reports · 2025-07-30

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how piRNA molecules are involved in urologic cancers and their potential for clinical diagnosis.

## Contribution

The paper systematically reviews piRNA's role in urologic carcinoma and its clinical implications.

## Key findings

- piRNA regulates key signaling pathways in urologic carcinoma through m6A modification and transposable element silencing.
- piRNA exhibits tissue-specific expression in various human cancers.
- piRNA has potential applications in clinical diagnosis due to its specific expression profiles.

## Abstract

Piwi‐interacting RNA (piRNA) represents a class of small non‐coding RNA molecules, typically ranging in length from 18 to 35 nucleotides. These molecules are critically involved in the preservation of genomic integrity and the regulation of protein translation processes. Recently, emerging scholarly research indicates that piRNA exhibits tissue‐specific expression profiles within a variety of human malignancies, where they intricately regulate key signaling pathways at both the transcriptional and post‐transcriptional levels. This review systematically underscores current investigations pertaining to piRNA in urologic carcinoma (UC), elucidating the proposed regulatory mechanisms encompassing N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) modification and the silencing of transposable elements. Furthermore, we discuss the detection technology and the application of piRNA in the fields of clinical diagnosis.

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** PIWIL1 (piwi like RNA-mediated gene silencing 1) [NCBI Gene 9271] {aka CT80.1, HIWI, MIWI, PIWI}, DHX36 (DEAH-box helicase 36) [NCBI Gene 170506] {aka DDX36, G4R1, MLEL1, RHAU}, OAS2 (2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase 2) [NCBI Gene 4939] {aka AIAISD2}, PCDH9 (protocadherin 9) [NCBI Gene 5101], USP8 (ubiquitin specific peptidase 8) [NCBI Gene 9101] {aka HumORF8, PITA4, SPG59, UBPY}, AKT1 (AKT serine/threonine kinase 1) [NCBI Gene 207] {aka AKT, PKB, PKB-ALPHA, PRKBA, RAC, RAC-ALPHA}, BCL2L1 (BCL2 like 1) [NCBI Gene 598] {aka BCL-XL/S, BCL2L, BCLX, Bcl-X, PPP1R52}, PIK3R1 (phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 1) [NCBI Gene 5295] {aka AGM7, GRB1, IMD36, p85, p85-ALPHA, p85alpha}, BMP2 (bone morphogenetic protein 2) [NCBI Gene 650] {aka BDA2, BMP2A, SSFSC, SSFSC1}, WTAP (WT1 associated protein) [NCBI Gene 9589] {aka Mum2}, GSTP1 (glutathione S-transferase pi 1) [NCBI Gene 2950] {aka DFN7, FAEES3, GST3, GSTP, GSTP1-1, HEL-S-22}, HNRNPU (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U) [NCBI Gene 3192] {aka DEE54, EIEE54, GRIP120, HNRNPU-AS1, HNRPU, SAF-A}, HK2 (hexokinase 2) [NCBI Gene 3099] {aka HKII, HXK2}, CTTN (cortactin) [NCBI Gene 2017] {aka EMS1}, PIR (pirin) [NCBI Gene 8544], PIWIL2 (piwi like RNA-mediated gene silencing 2) [NCBI Gene 55124] {aka CT80, HILI, PIWIL1L, mili}, METTL14 (methyltransferase 14, N6-adenosine-methyltransferase non-catalytic subunit) [NCBI Gene 57721] {aka hMETTL14}, CCL3 (C-C motif chemokine ligand 3) [NCBI Gene 6348] {aka G0S19-1, LD78, LD78ALPHA, MIP-1-alpha, MIP1A, SCI}, Henmt1 (HEN1 methyltransferase homolog 1 (Arabidopsis)) [NCBI Gene 66715] {aka 4921515J06Rik, Hen1, mHEN1}, TNFSF4 (TNF superfamily member 4) [NCBI Gene 7292] {aka CD134L, CD252, GP34, OX-40L, OX4OL, TNLG2B}, PIWIL4 (piwi like RNA-mediated gene silencing 4) [NCBI Gene 143689] {aka HIWI2, MIWI2}, METTL3 (methyltransferase 3, N6-adenosine-methyltransferase complex catalytic subunit) [NCBI Gene 56339] {aka IME4, M6A, MT-A70, Spo8, hMETTL3}, STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) [NCBI Gene 6774] {aka ADMIO, ADMIO1, APRF, HIES}, CYP1B1 (cytochrome P450 family 1 subfamily B member 1) [NCBI Gene 1545] {aka ASGD6, CP1B, CYPIB1, GLC3A, P4501B1}, HOXC6 (homeobox C6) [NCBI Gene 3223] {aka CP25, HHO.C8, HOX3, HOX3C}, DLX1 (distal-less homeobox 1) [NCBI Gene 1745], MIR10B (microRNA 10b) [NCBI Gene 406903] {aka MIRN10B, hsa-mir-10b, miRNA10B, mir-10b}, PIK3CB (phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit beta) [NCBI Gene 5291] {aka P110BETA, PI3K, PI3KBETA, PIK3C1}, MAPK1 (mitogen-activated protein kinase 1) [NCBI Gene 5594] {aka ERK, ERK-2, ERK2, ERT1, MAPK2, NS13}, FOLH1 (folate hydrolase 1) [NCBI Gene 2346] {aka FGCP, FOLH, GCP2, GCPII, NAALAD1, PSM}, PIWIL3 (piwi like RNA-mediated gene silencing 3) [NCBI Gene 440822] {aka HIWI3}, TIMD4 (T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain containing 4) [NCBI Gene 91937] {aka SMUCKLER, TIM4}
- **Diseases:** large B-cell lymphoma (MESH:D016393), cervical cancer (MESH:D002583), TNM (MESH:D008207), metastasis (MESH:D009362), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (MESH:D016403), TC (MESH:D013736), pancreatic cancer (MESH:D010190), RCC (MESH:D002292), Bladder Carcinoma (MESH:D001749), UC (MESH:D014571), Cancer (MESH:D009369), MIBC (MESH:D000093284), PC (MESH:D011471), hypoxia (MESH:D000860), Prostate Carcinoma (MESH:D011472), osteoporosis (MESH:D010024), oncogenesis (MESH:D063646)
- **Chemicals:** N6-Methyladenosine (MESH:C010223), m6A (-), OA (MESH:D019319)
- **Species:** Caenorhabditis (genus) [taxon 6237], Macaca (macaque, genus) [taxon 9539], Rattus norvegicus (brown rat, species) [taxon 10116], Chiloscyllium plagiosum (whitespotted bambooshark, species) [taxon 36176], Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]
- **Cell lines:** piR-31 115 — Homo sapiens (Human), Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, Induced pluripotent stem cell (CVCL_ZA12)

## Full text

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## Figures

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## References

104 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12309732/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12309732