Seeking the truth behind the myth: Argonaute tales from “nuclearland”

Abstract

Argonaute proteins have been traditionally characterized as a highly evolutionary conserved family engaged in post-transcriptional gene silencing pathways. The Argonaute family is mainly grouped into the AGO and PIWI clades. The canonical role of Argonaute proteins relies on their ability to bind small-RNAs that recognize complementary sequences on target mRNAs to induce either mRNA degradation or translational repression. However, there is an increasing amount of evidence supporting that Argonaute proteins also exert multiple nuclear functions that subsequently regulate gene expression. In this line, genome-wide studies showed that members from the AGO clade regulate transcription, 3D chromatin organization, and splicing of active loci located within euchromatin. Here, we discuss recent work based on high-throughput technologies that have significantly contributed to shed light on the multivariate nuclear functions of AGO proteins in different model organisms. We also analyze data supporting that AGO proteins are able to execute these nuclear functions independently from small RNA pathways. Finally, we integrate these mechanistic insights with recent reports highlighting the clinical importance of AGO in breast and prostate cancer development.