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RNA editing of microRNAs
Author(s) -
Nishikura Kazuko
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a211-a
Subject(s) - rna editing , adar , biology , microrna , rna silencing , rna , computational biology , inosine , non coding rna , genetics , gene , adenosine , rna interference , biochemistry
One type of RNA editing involves the conversion of adenosine residues into inosine in dsRNA by the action of ADAR (adenosine deaminases acting on RNA). Although the A‐to‐I RNA editing recodes and diversifies the function of important mammalian genes such as glutamate receptor subunits and serotonin receptor 2C, its most commons targets are non‐coding, repeat sequences, indicating the involvement of this editing system in currently unknown functions other than recoding of proteins. Recently we discovered that specific adenosine residues of certain miRNA precursors are edited by ADARs. Most importantly, editing inhibits posttranscriptional processing pathways essential for generation of mature miRNAs or results in expression of edited miRNAs that silence a set of genes completely different from those targeted by the unedited miRNAs. Implications of miRNA editing for expression and function of miRNAs will be discussed.