Training Program in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-8548, USA.
Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2012;353:61-90. doi: 10.1007/82_2011_157.
The central dogma of molecular biology defines the major route for the transfer of genetic information from genomic DNA to messenger RNA to three-dimensional proteins that affect structure and function. Like alternative splicing, the post-transcriptional conversion of adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) by RNA editing can dramatically expand the diversity of the transcriptome to generate multiple, functionally distinct protein isoforms from a single genomic locus. While RNA editing has been identified in virtually all tissues, such post-transcriptional modifications have been best characterized in RNAs encoding both ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors. These RNA processing events have been shown to play an important role in the function of the encoded protein products and, in several cases, have been shown to be critical for the normal development and function of the nervous system.
分子生物学的中心法则定义了遗传信息从基因组 DNA 到信使 RNA 再到三维蛋白质的主要传递途径，这些蛋白质影响结构和功能。与选择性剪接一样，RNA 编辑将腺苷转化为肌苷（A-to-I）的转录后转化可以极大地扩展转录组的多样性，从而从单个基因组位点产生多种功能不同的蛋白质同工型。虽然 RNA 编辑已在几乎所有组织中被鉴定出来，但这种转录后修饰在编码配体和电压门控离子通道以及神经递质受体的 RNA 中得到了最好的描述。这些 RNA 加工事件已被证明在编码蛋白产物的功能中发挥重要作用，并且在某些情况下，已被证明对于神经系统的正常发育和功能至关重要。
