title: RNA editing by adenosine deaminases that act on RNA.
abstract: ADARs are RNA editing enzymes that target double-stranded regions of nuclear-encoded RNA and viral RNA. These enzymes are particularly abundant in the nervous system, where they diversify the information encoded in the genome, for example, by altering codons in mRNAs. The functions of ADARs in known substrates suggest that the enzymes serve to fine-tune and optimize many biological pathways, in ways that we are only starting to imagine. ADARs are also interesting in regard to the remarkable double-stranded structures of their substrates and how enzyme specificity is achieved with little regard to sequence. This review summarizes ongoing investigations of the enzyme family and their substrates, focusing on biological function as well as biochemical mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132, USA. bbass@howard.genetics.utah.edu
authors.forename: Brenda L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Bass
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D005810:Multigene Family; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D017393:RNA Editing; D012326:RNA Splicing / Q000235:genetics; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000235:genetics; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000235:genetics; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin; D015222:Sodium Channels; D012313:RNA; C567955:ADARB1 protein, human; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase; D015032:Zinc