A-to-I RNA editing: a new regulatory mechanism of global gene expression

The complexity of higher organisms is based on the number of different gene products available for structural, regulatory and enzymatic regulatory functions and the precise and coordinated control of gene expression. A-to-I RNA editing emerges as a global post-transcriptional modification that affects thousands of transcripts. RNA editing is becoming a central modification acting on double-stranded RNA and is therefore intimately associated with other basic processes such as RNA interference, microRNA and interferon response that also depend on double-stranded RNA. Recent research highlights the multiple roles of this mechanism in the transcriptome diversification and in the special and temporal gene expression control. Alterations in A-to-I RNA editing have now been linked to various human diseases. The increased understanding of the editing machinery and identification of the multiple targets are expected to improve our understanding of the roles of this mechanism in normal development and homeostasis and its derangement in disease states. Basic and translational research is expected to increase our understanding of this intriguing mechanism which is endowed with diagnostic and therapeutic implications.