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Adenosine to inosine RNA editing in animal cells

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Fine-Tuning of RNA Functions by Modification and Editing

Part of the book series: Topics in Current Genetics ((TCG,volume 12))

Abstract

Major advances in the understanding of adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) have come from the generation of ADAR mutant animals. In mice, ADAR1 is a widely expressed essential gene and loss of function in embryos leads to apoptosis through unknown mechanisms in many different cell types. Mammalian ADAR2 is required primarily to edit glutamate receptor transcripts in the nervous system. The Drosophila melanogaster genome contains one Adar gene; mutant flies are normal in morphology and lifespan, but severely compromised neurologically and behaviourally. In C. elegans, double mutants in Adr1 and Adr2 genes are viable with chemosensory defects that appear to arise from interactions between RNA editing and RNA interference. ADARs also extensively deaminate long double-stranded (ds) RNA in a process that has been proposed to have anti-viral effects. Genome sequences have facilitated progress in identifying edited RNAs. The majority of the twenty-three edited transcripts identified in Drosophila encode proteins involved in rapid chemical and electrical neurotransmission and extensive editing of embedded Alu RNAs has been found.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, Connecticut 06030, USA

    Barry Hoopengardner & Robert Reenan

  2. MRC Human Genetics Unit, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK

    Mary A. O’Connell & Liam P. Keegan

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  1. Barry Hoopengardner
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  2. Mary A. O’Connell
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  3. Robert Reenan
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  4. Liam P. Keegan
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Henri Grosjean

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Hoopengardner, B., O’Connell, M.A., Reenan, R., Keegan, L.P. Adenosine to inosine RNA editing in animal cells. In: Grosjean, H. (eds) Fine-Tuning of RNA Functions by Modification and Editing. Topics in Current Genetics, vol 12. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/b106651

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