RNA Editing

Mark P Sowden, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
Harold C Smith, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA

Published online: May 2005

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003836

RNA editing is a form of RNA processing that can occur in the nucleus, chloroplast or mitochondrion of cells and involves the co- or posttranscriptional modification of RNA from that encoded in DNA through nucleotide deletion, insertion or base-modification mechanisms.

Keywords: amino acid sequence; evolution; organelles; RNA editing; RNA processing

Figure 1. Models proposed for the mechanisms of different forms of RNA editing. For each simplistic model, an example of the editing event is given to the left with the presumptive editing complex or editosome outlined in green, and the catalytic subunit outlined in black. The protein composition of the editosomes has in most cases not been fully characterized and is therefore only suggested by the green line surrounding the editing site (for details see Tables 1 and 1). The actual editing site is indicated by a red arrowhead, with the consequence given as ‘CU’ (cytidine to uridine) or ‘AI’ (adenosine to inosine); a diamond, signifying either uridine insertion or deletion; and a tilted arrowhead, for cotranscriptional guanidine insertion.
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 Further Reading
    Bass BL (2002) RNA editing by adenosine deaminases that act on RNA. Annual Review of Biochemistry 71: 817–846.
    book Bock R, Freyer AR, Fuchs FM, Zeltz RS and Maier RM (1997) "Transcript editing in chloroplasts of higher plants". In: Schenk HEA, Herrmann R, Jeon KW, Müller NE and Schwemmler W (eds) Eukaryotism and Symbiosis. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
    Decatur WA and Fournier MJ (2003) RNA-guided nucleotide modification of ribosomal and other RNAs. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278: 695–698.
    book Gesteland RF and Atkins JF (1999) The RNA World, 2nd edn. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
    Gott JM and Emeson RB (2000) Functions and mechanisms of RNA editing. Annual Review of Genetics 34: 499–531.
    Harris RS, Petersen-Mahrt SK and Neuberger MS (2002) RNA editing enzyme APOBEC1 and some of its homologs can act as DNA mutators. Molecular Cell 10: 1247–1253.
    Keegan LP, Gallo A and O'Connell MA (2001) The many roles of an RNA editor. Nature Reviews Genetics 2: 869–878.
    proceedings Simpson L, Thiemann OH, Savill NJ, Alfonzo JD and Maslov DA (2000) Evolution of RNA editing in trypanosome mitochondria. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 97: 6986–6993.
    Smith HC and Sowden MP (1996) Base modification RNA editing: the good, the bad and the unregulated. Trends in Genetics 12: 418–424.
    Smith HC, Gott JM and Hanson MR (1997) A guide to RNA editing. RNA 3: 1105–1123.
    Stuart K and Panigrahi AK (2002) RNA editing: complexity and complications. Molecular Microbiology 45: 591–596.
    Tsudzuki T, Wakasugi T and Sugiura M (2001) Comparative analysis of RNA editing sites in higher plant chloroplasts. Journal of Molecular Evolution 53: 327–332.
    Wedekind JE, Dance GSC, Sowden MP and Smith HC (2003) Messenger RNA editing in mammals: new members of the APOBEC family seeking roles in the family business. Trends in Genetics 19: 207–216.

Related Sub-Topics:

Nucleic Acid Structure | Translation and Protein synthesis | Transcriptional Regulation | Translational Regulation | RNA Structure and Function | Posttranscriptional Modification | Information Flow | Nucleic Acids: Structure, Function, Metabolism
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Article Title: RNA Editing
 
How to Cite close
Sowden, Mark P, and Smith, Harold C(May 2005) RNA Editing. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003836]