Substitutional A‐to‐I RNA editing

Adenosine‐to‐inosine (A‐to‐I) editing catalyzed by adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) entails the chemical conversion of adenosine residues to inosine residues within double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA) substrates. Inosine base pairs as guanosine and A‐to‐I editing can therefore alter the structure and base pairing properties of the RNA molecule. This has a biological significance in controlling the amount of functional RNA molecules in the cell, in expanding the functionality of a limited set of transcripts, and in defending the cell against certain RNA viruses. A‐to‐I editing is not limited to any specific type of RNA substrate. Instead, it can affect any RNA molecule able to attain the required double‐stranded structure. This includes microRNAs, small interfering RNAs, viral RNAs, and messenger RNAs with potential for recoding events and splice site modifications. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article is categorized under: RNA Processing > RNA Editing and Modification