The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2012;353:91-109. doi: 10.1007/82_2011_151.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by preventing the translation of specific messenger RNAs. Adenosine deaminases acting on RNAs (ADARs) catalyze adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing, the conversion of adenosines into inosines, in double-stranded RNAs. Because inosine preferentially base pairs with cytidine, this conversion is equivalent to an adenosine to guanosine change. Over the past seven years, an increasing number of edited adenosines have been identified in miRNAs. Editing of miRNAs affects their biogenesis, causes their degradation or alters the set of messenger RNAs that they regulate. Recently, ADARs have been shown to also affect the miRNA phenomenon by sequestering miRNAs or by editing the messenger RNAs they regulate. This article reviews the recent attempts to identify miRNA editing sites and elucidate the effects of ADARs on miRNA expression and function.
微小 RNA(miRNAs)是通过阻止特定信使 RNA 的翻译来调节基因表达的小非编码 RNA。作用于 RNA 的腺苷脱氨酶(ADARs)催化腺苷到肌苷(A-to-I)RNA 编辑,即将双链 RNA 中的腺苷转换为肌苷。因为肌苷优先与胞嘧啶配对,这种转换相当于腺嘌呤到鸟嘌呤的变化。在过去的七年中,在 miRNAs 中鉴定出越来越多编辑的腺苷。miRNAs 的编辑影响它们的生物发生,导致它们的降解或改变它们调节的信使 RNA 集。最近,ADARs 已被证明通过隔离 miRNAs 或编辑它们调节的信使 RNA 来影响 miRNA 现象。本文综述了最近鉴定 miRNA 编辑位点并阐明 ADARs 对 miRNA 表达和功能影响的尝试。