Yuka W. Iwasaki

SPIN1 selectively silences evolutionarily young transposable elements through chromatin regulation

This study identifies SPIN1 as a chromatin regulator that selectively represses young transposable elements in mouse embryonic stem cells through histone modification recognition.

EC-isHCR: a rapid method for in situ hybridization chain reaction in diverse animal samples

This paper demonstrates that EC-isHCR retains the features of conventional isHCR and introduces an automated probe design tool to enhance its applicability across diverse samples.

Flamenco plasticity tunes somatic piRNAs, rewiring host isoforms and opening a route to heritable transposon spread

The paper shows how the transposon Springer rewires gene expression and how Flamenco piRNA clusters remodel to allow transposon spread to the germline.

Mod(mdg4) variants repress telomeric retrotransposonHeT-A by blocking subtelomeric enhancers

The paper shows Mod(mdg4)-N variants repress HeT-A retrotransposons by blocking subtelomeric enhancers in Drosophila ovarian cells, leading to female sterility.

Production of functional oocytes requires maternally expressed PIWI genes and piRNAs in golden hamsters

This study shows that PIWI genes and piRNAs are essential for producing functional oocytes in golden hamsters, with different effects on gene expression and DNA methylation depending on the PIWI gene.

Hamster PIWI proteins bind to piRNAs with stage-specific size variations during oocyte maturation

This study investigates piRNA size variations and PIWI protein dynamics during hamster oocyte maturation, revealing stage-specific piRNA binding and transcriptional regulation in ovarian piRNA clusters.

Nuclear RNA export factor variant initiates piRNA-guided co-transcriptional silencing

The paper identifies Nxf2 as a key component in the Piwi-piRNA pathway, showing it forms complexes that stabilize Piwi and Panx and initiate co-transcriptional silencing of target transcripts.