Skip to main content
Fig. 5 | Molecular Cancer

Fig. 5

From: Piwi-interacting RNAs in cancer: emerging functions and clinical utility

Fig. 5

Distribution of piRNAs expression in human cancer genome. Circular representation of the human genome (chromosomes 1–22, X and Y). The distribution of piRNA expression in non-malignant (outward lines) and tumors (inward lines) from breast (red), lung (blue and green from samples derived from adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, respectively) and stomach (turquoise) is shown in a circular representation of the human genome. Clusters of highly expressed piRNAs are evident in chromosomes 2, 5, 10, 13, 21 and X. Although expression of some piRNAs is common across tissues (a), some of them show tissue-specific features (b). Moreover, differences between tumour and normal tissue are observable (c). The outer grey circle is a representation of the human mitochondrial genome. Blue bars depict the location of of these piRNA species in the mitochondrial DNA (note: the height of the blue bars does not represent expression levels of the piRNA species, since data for some of the original studies is not still publically available. Inner black and red labels represent previously known piRNA sequences and piRNA-like species that map to the mitochondrial genome [59, 61] (d)

Back to article page