ADAR RNA Modifications, the Epitranscriptome and Innate Immunity

• Authors: QUIN Jaclyn Elizabeth; SEDMÍK Jiří; VUKIĆ Dragana; KHAN Anzer; KEEGAN Liam; O'CONNELL Mary Anne
• Year of publication: 2021
• Type: Article in Periodical
• Magazine / Source: Trends in Biochemical Sciences
• MU Faculty or unit: Central European Institute of Technology
• Web: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968000421000311?via%3Dihub
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2021.02.002
• Keywords: RNA editing; double-stranded RNA (dsRNA); pattern recognition receptors (PRRs); interferon; antiviral responses; autoinflammatory disease

Attached files

• PIIS0968000421000311.pdf
• PIIS0968000421000311_humswbch.pdf

• Description: Modified bases act as marks on cellular RNAs so that they can be distinguished from foreign RNAs, reducing innate immune responses to endogenous RNA. In humans, mutations giving reduced levels of one base modification, adenosine-to-inosine deamination, cause a viral infection mimic syndrome, a congenital encephalitis with aberrant interferon induction. These Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome 6 mutations affect adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 1 (ADAR1), which generates inosines in endogenous double-stranded (ds)RNA. The inosine base alters dsRNA structure to prevent aberrant activation of antiviral cytosolic helicase RIG-I-like receptors. We review how effects of inosines, ADARs, and other modi-fied bases have been shown to be important in innate immunity and cancer.

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