Dermentzaki Georgia, Lotti Francesco
Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York City, NY, United States.
Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York City, NY, United States.
Front Mol Biosci. 2020 Sep 2;7:555372. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.555372. eCollection 2020.
RNA modifications termed epitranscriptomics represent an additional layer of gene regulation similar to epigenetic mechanisms operating on DNA. The dynamic nature and the increasing number of RNA modifications offer new opportunities for a rapid fine-tuning of gene expression in response to specific environmental cues. In cooperation with a diverse and versatile set of effector proteins that "recognize" them, these RNA modifications have the ability to mediate and control diverse fundamental cellular functions, such as pre-mRNA splicing, nuclear export, stability, and translation. -methyladenosine (mA) is the most abundant of these RNA modifications, particularly in the nervous system, where recent studies have highlighted it as an important post-transcriptional regulator of physiological functions from development to synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Here we review recent findings surrounding the role of mA modification in regulating physiological responses of the mammalian nervous system and we discuss its emerging role in pathological conditions such as neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.
被称为表观转录组学的RNA修饰代表了基因调控的另一个层面，类似于作用于DNA的表观遗传机制。RNA修饰的动态性质以及其数量的不断增加为响应特定环境线索而快速微调基因表达提供了新机会。与多种“识别”它们的效应蛋白协同作用，这些RNA修饰能够介导和控制多种基本细胞功能，如前体mRNA剪接、核输出、稳定性和翻译。N6-甲基腺苷（m6A）是这些RNA修饰中最丰富的一种，特别是在神经系统中，最近的研究强调它是从发育到突触可塑性、学习和记忆等生理功能的重要转录后调节因子。在这里，我们综述了围绕m6A修饰在调节哺乳动物神经系统生理反应中作用的最新发现，并讨论了其在神经精神和神经退行性疾病等病理状况中新兴的作用。
