The Mina & Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
Sci Adv. 2024 Sep 6;10(36):eadi9101. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi9101. Epub 2024 Sep 4.
A-to-I RNA editing is a cellular mechanism that generates transcriptomic and proteomic diversity, which is essential for neuronal and immune functions. It involves the conversion of specific adenosines in RNA molecules to inosines, which are recognized as guanosines by cellular machinery. Despite the vast number of editing sites observed across the animal kingdom, pinpointing critical sites and understanding their in vivo functions remains challenging. Here, we study the function of an evolutionary conserved editing site in , located in glutamate-gated chloride channel (α). Our findings reveal that flies lacking editing at this site exhibit reduced olfactory responses to odors and impaired pheromone-dependent social interactions. Moreover, we demonstrate that editing of this site is crucial for the proper processing of olfactory information in projection neurons. Our results highlight the value of using evolutionary conservation as a criterion for identifying editing events with potential functional significance and paves the way for elucidating the intricate link between RNA modification, neuronal physiology, and behavior.
A-to-I RNA 编辑是一种细胞机制，可产生转录组和蛋白质组多样性，这对神经元和免疫功能至关重要。它涉及到 RNA 分子中特定腺苷的转化为肌苷，肌苷被细胞机制识别为鸟苷。尽管在动物界观察到了大量的编辑位点，但确定关键位点及其体内功能仍然具有挑战性。在这里，我们研究了位于谷氨酸门控氯离子通道（α）中的一个进化保守编辑位点的功能。我们的研究结果表明，这个位点缺乏编辑的果蝇对气味的嗅觉反应减弱，并且在信息素依赖的社交互动中表现出缺陷。此外，我们证明了这个位点的编辑对于投射神经元中嗅觉信息的正确处理至关重要。我们的研究结果强调了使用进化保守性作为识别具有潜在功能意义的编辑事件的标准的价值，并为阐明 RNA 修饰、神经元生理学和行为之间的复杂联系铺平了道路。
