Structural and functional effects of inosine modification in mRNA
- 1 Department of Chemistry. University of California, Davis;
- 2 Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis
- ↵* Corresponding author; email: pabeal{at}ucdavis.edu
Abstract
Inosine (I), resulting from the deamination of adenosine (A), is a prominent modification in the human transcriptome. The enzymes responsible for the conversion of adenosine to inosine in human mRNAs are the ADARs (adenosine deaminases acting on RNA). Inosine modification introduces a layer of complexity to mRNA processing and function, as it can impact various aspects of RNA biology, including mRNA stability, splicing, translation, and protein binding. The relevance of this process is emphasized in the growing number of human disorders associated with dysregulated A-to-I editing pathways. Here, we describe the impact of the A-to-I conversion on the structure and stability of duplex RNA and on the consequences of this modification at different locations in mRNAs. Furthermore, we highlight specific open questions regarding the interplay between inosine formation in duplex RNA and the innate immune response.
Keywords
- Received February 1, 2024.
- Accepted February 9, 2024.
- 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/.










