Adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing in neurological development and disease

Abstract

Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) editing is one of the most prevalent post-transcriptional RNA modifications in metazoan. This reaction is catalysed by enzymes called adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs). RNA editing is involved in the regulation of protein function and gene expression. The numerous A-to-I editing sites have been identified in both coding and non-coding RNA transcripts. These editing sites are also found in various genes expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and play an important role in neurological development and brain function. Aberrant regulation of RNA editing has been associated with the pathogenesis of neurological and psychiatric disorders, suggesting the physiological significance of RNA editing in the CNS. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge of editing on neurological disease and development.

Keywords: 5-HT2CR; A-to-I RNA editing; ADAR; AGS; ALS; GluA2; Post-transcriptional RNA modification; bipolar disorder; depression; epilepsy; miRNA; schizophrenia; viral RNA.