Argonaute proteins are highly conserved in almost all organisms. They not only involve in the biogenesis of small regulatory RNAs, but also regulate gene expression and defend against foreign pathogen invasion via small RNA-mediated gene silencing pathways. As a key player in these pathways, the abnormal expression and/or mis-modifications of Argonaute proteins lead to the disorder of small RNA biogenesis and functions, thus influencing multiply biological processes and disease development, especially cancer. In this review, we focus on the post-translational modifications and novel functions of Argonaute proteins in alternative splicing, host defense and genome editing.

Argonaute蛋白质在几乎所有生物中都是高度保守的。它们不仅参与小调节RNA的生物发生，而且还通过小RNA介导的基因沉默途径调节基因表达并防御外源病原体入侵。作为这些途径的关键角色，Argonaute蛋白的异常表达和/或修饰错误会导致小RNA生物发生和功能紊乱，从而影响多重生物学过程和疾病发展，尤其是癌症。在这篇综述中，我们专注于Argonaute蛋白在替代剪接，宿主防御和基因组编辑中的翻译后修饰和新功能。