Argonaute

The Argonaute protein family plays a central role in RNA silencing processes, as essential catalytic components of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). RISC complex is responsible for the gene silencing phenomenon known as RNA interference (RNAi). Argonaute proteins bind different classes of small non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). Small RNAs guide Argonaute proteins to their specific targets through sequence complementarity (base pairing), which then leads to mRNA cleavage or translation inhibition.

Discovery

The RNA interference (RNAi) was first reported in 1995 by Guo and Kemphues, and similar pathways collectively referred to as RNA silencing were discovered in plants and fungi. The beginning of people’s understanding of the mechanism of RNA silencing began only in 1998 with the experiments of Fire and colleagues demonstrating that double-stranded RNA triggered RNAi. RNA silencing pathways process long RNAs into small RNAs that direct the repression of transcription or translation of nucleic acid targets with sequence corresponding to the small RNAs. These single-stranded RNAs, referred to as guide strands, are incorporated into RNA silencing effectors complexes such as the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). These RNA silencing effector complexes contain Argonaute family proteins.

French submarine Argonaute (S636)

Argonaute (S636) is an Aréthuse-class submarine, and the fourth ship of the French Navy to bear the name.

Launched on 23 October 1958, she served as flagship within the Toulon submarine squadron, and spent over 2,000 days at sea and over 32,000 hours underwater. She was decommissioned on 31 July 1982.

After extensive discussions beginning in 1982, in 1989 the Argonaute was transferred from Toulon via Gibraltar to Le Havre, then through the seven locks of the Saint-Denis Canal. Once at the quay on the Canal de l'Ourcq, she was lifted from the water by cranes and transported by trailer to her current site.

The Argonaute opened to the public in 1991, outside the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, 30 Avenue Corentin Cariou, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. The interior is open daily except Mondays and national holidays; an admission fee is charged.

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