Piwi-like protein 1 (PIWIL1) plays a central role during spermatogenesis by repressing transposable elements and preventing their mobilization, which is essential for the germline integrity. PIWIL1 plays an essential role in meiotic differentiation of spermatocytes, germ cell differentiation and in self-renewal of spermatogonial stem cells. PIWIL1 acts via the piRNA metabolic process, which mediates the repression of transposable elements during meiosis by forming comple, Xenopus/Amphibian,es composed of piRNAs and PIWI proteins. PIWIL2 directly binds piRNAs, a class of 24 to 30 nucleotide RNAs that are generated by a Dicer-independent mechanism and are primarily derived from transposons and other repeated sequence elements. PIWIL1 is a component of the RISC comple, Xenopus/Amphibian,, which mediates RNA cleavage and translational silencing. PIWIL2 also plays a role in the formation of chromatoid bodies and is required for miRNA stability.