title: The Good and the Bad of Glutamate Receptor RNA Editing.
abstract: Glutamate receptors play a key role in excitatory synaptic transmission and plasticity in the central nervous system (CNS). Their channel properties are largely dictated by the subunit composition of tetrameric receptors. Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) and kainate channels are assembled from GluA1-4 AMPA or GluK1-5 kainate receptor subunits. However, their functional properties are highly modulated by a post-transcriptional mechanism called RNA editing. This process involves the enzymatic deamination of specific adenosines (A) into inosines (I) in pre-messenger RNA. This post-transcriptional modification leads to critical amino acid substitutions in the receptor subunits, which induce profound alterations of the channel properties. Three of the four AMPA and two of the five kainate receptor subunits are subjected to RNA editing. This study reviews the advances in understanding the importance of glutamate receptor RNA editing in finely tuning glutamatergic neurotransmission under physiological conditions and discusses the way in which the dis-regulation of RNA editing may be involved in neurological pathology.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Genetics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, viale Europa, 11-25123, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Filippini
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Genetics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, viale Europa, 11-25123, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bonini
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Genetics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, viale Europa, 11-25123, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: La Via
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Genetics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, viale Europa, 11-25123, Brescia, Italy. alessandro.barbon@unibs.it.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1127-7764
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barbon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D017393:RNA Editing / Q000502:physiology*; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate
keywords: Glutamate receptors; Kainate receptors; Neurological disorders; Q/R site; R/G site; RNA editing