Small regulatory RNAs (and their associated proteins) are critical for genome and gene regulation in animal cells.  Germ cells have a special role in the perpetuation of organisms, but they have also become the richest environment for the study of small regulatory RNAs.  In addition to microRNAs, which are vital gene regulators conserved from plants to people, germ cells express endogenous small interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs).  

In animal germ cells such as spermatocytes and oocytes, piRNAs are the most abundant class of small RNAs, and together with Piwi proteins, they suppress the mobilization of transposable elements and specify the organization of mRNAs and proteins in the germ cells. Through the study of piRNAs in mosquitoes, fruit flies, Xenopus frogs, and mammalian brain tissue, our lab seeks to uncover the myriad of important roles these small RNAs serve in development and disease.