OPINION
Adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing may be implicated in human pathogenesis
1 Orekhovich Research Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia
2 Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Anna A. Kliuchnikova
Pogodinskaya 10, bld. 8, Moscow, 119121; moc.liamg@avokinhcuilk.a
Funding: the work was performed within The Programme for fundamental scientific research of state science academies for 2013–2020.
Author contribution: both authors have contributed equally to manuscript writing.
Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing is a common mechanism of post-transcriptional modification in many metazoans including vertebrates; the process is catalyzed by adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs). Using high-throughput sequencing technologies resulted in finding thousands of RNA editing sites throughout the human transcriptome however, their functions are still poorly understood. The aim of this brief review is to draw attention of clinicians and biomedical researchers to ADAR-mediated RNA editing phenomenon and its possible implication in development of neuropathologies, antiviral immune responses and cancer.
Keywords: RNA-specific adenosine deaminase (ADAR), RNA editing, immune resistance, malignant tumour, neurodegenerative disease