title: One hundred million adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing sites: hearing through the noise.
abstract: The most recent work toward compiling a comprehensive database of adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing events suggests that the potential for RNA editing is much more pervasive than previously thought; indeed, it is manifest in more than 100 million potential editing events located primarily within Alu repeat elements of the human transcriptome. Pairs of inverted Alu repeats are found in a substantial number of human genes, and when transcribed, they form long double-stranded RNA structures that serve as optimal substrates for RNA editing enzymes. A small subset of edited Alu elements has been shown to exhibit diverse functional roles in the regulation of alternative splicing, miRNA repression, and cis-regulation of distant RNA editing sites. The low level of editing for the remaining majority may be non-functional, yet their persistence in the primate genome provides enhanced genomic flexibility that may be required for adaptive evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Randi J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ulbricht
authors.forename: Ronald B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Emeson
mesh_terms: D000241:Adenosine / Q000235:genetics; D020087:Alu Elements; D000818:Animals; D015894:Genome, Human; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans; D007288:Inosine / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D017393:RNA Editing; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D007288:Inosine; D000241:Adenosine
keywords: ADAR; Alu; RNA editing; inosine