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Cell quiescence sends argonaute-2 to transposons – Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

Argonaute (AGO) proteins bind microRNAs to repress mRNAs post-transcriptionally. This pathway is ubiquitous in mammals, except in mouse oocytes, in which AGO2, which is also an endonuclease, directly cleaves transposable elements (TEs), a process known as RNA interference (RNAi). Nevertheless, the physiological relevance of the nuclease activity of AGO2 is unclear. Sala et al. now show that in quiescent lymphocytes, AGO2 is diverted to the nucleus and suppresses TEs co-transcriptionally.