The mammalian analog of P-bodies is known as GW bodies. These are cytoplasmic foci involved in the breakdown of mRNA. RNA interference has been connected to GWBs in recent research, with disruption or disassembly of GWBs being shown to affect siRNA and miRNA silencing activity(reviewed in 16418578).
The identification of GW bodies and their integral protein, GW182 (23224962), relied entirely on human autoantibodies.
Formation, Composition & dynamics (Assembly and disassembly)
Relation to human diseases
Proteome
Relation to human diseases
The link between GW bodies and human diseases like cancer (21880135) and autoimmune disease (23224965) is described in the literature.
References
Lian S, Jakymiw A, Eystathioy T, Hamel JC, Fritzler MJ, Chan EK. GW bodies, microRNAs and the cell cycle. Cell Cycle. 2006 Feb;5(3):242-5. doi: 10.4161/cc.5.3.2410. Epub 2006 Feb 14. PMID: 16418578.
Fritzler MJ, Chan EK. The discovery of GW bodies. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2013;768:5-21. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-5107-5_2. PMID: 23224962.
Moser JJ, Fritzler MJ, Rattner JB. Repression of GW/P body components and the RNAi microprocessor impacts primary ciliogenesis in human astrocytes. BMC Cell Biol. 2011 Aug 31;12:37. doi: 10.1186/1471-2121-12-37. PMID: 21880135; PMCID: PMC3179929.
Bloch DB, Nobre RA, Yang WH. GW/P-bodies and autoimmune disease. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2013;768:61-70. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-5107-5_5. PMID: 23224965.