Open AccessAdenosine‐to‐inosine RNA editing
Author(s) -
Zinshteyn Boris,
Nishikura Kazuko
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: systems biology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.087
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1939-005X
pISSN - 1939-5094
DOI - 10.1002/wsbm.10
Subject(s) - rna editing , adar , rna , inosine , biology , intron , adenosine deaminase , rna binding protein , computational biology , genetics , untranslated region , messenger rna , non coding rna , adenosine , gene , biochemistry
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) editing is a mechanism that generates RNA and protein diversity, which is not directly encoded in the genome. The most common type of RNA editing in vertebrates is the conversion of adenosine to inosine in double‐stranded RNA which occurs in the higher eukaryotes. This editing is carried out by the family of adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) proteins. The most‐studied substrates of ADAR proteins undergo editing which is very consistent, highly conserved, and functionally important. However, editing causes changes in protein‐coding regions only at a small proportion of all editing sites. The vast majority of editing sites are in noncoding sequences. This includes microRNAs, as well as the introns and 3′ untranslated regions of messenger RNAs, which play important roles in the RNA‐mediated regulation of gene expression. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This article is categorized under: Biological Mechanisms > Regulatory Biology Laboratory Methods and Technologies > RNA Methods