Z-RNA biology: A central role in the innate immune response?
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, 80045, USA
- ↵* Corresponding author; email: quentin.vicens{at}cuanschutz.edu
Abstract
Z-RNA is a higher-energy, left-handed conformation of RNA, whose function has remained elusive. A growing body of work alludes to regulatory roles for Z-RNA in the immune response. Here, we review how Z-RNA features present in cellular RNAs —especially containing retroelements— could be recognized by a family of winged helix proteins, with an impact on host defense. We also discuss how mutations to specific Z-contacting amino acids disrupt their ability to stabilize Z-RNA, resulting in functional losses. We end by highlighting knowledge gaps in the field, which, if addressed, would significantly advance this active area of research.
Keywords
- Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR1)
- Z-DNA-Binding Protein 1 (ZBP1)
- Z-RNA
- innate immune response
- retroelement
- Received August 24, 2022.
- Accepted December 22, 2022.
- Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society
This article, published in RNA, is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International), as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
