Sudheesh Allikka Parambil (van Wolfswinkel Lab) Published a New Paper in Nucleic Acids Research
Our study explores how stem cells maintain their transcriptome integrity. We found that, in planarians, the PIWI protein called SMEDWI-1, associates with monosomes (ribosomal units) during pioneer round of translation, to help process the poorly translated (ex: structural) RNAs into small non-coding RNAs called piRNAs. This process helps filter out dysfunctional transcripts from entering the translational machinery, ensuring the health of stem cells.