Measuring RNA editing of serotonin 2C receptor

Pre-mRNA of serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2C, 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 2C) undergoes A-to-I type RNA editing, which is a post-transcriptional event leading to the change of genomically encoded information. RNA editing generates various HTR2C isoforms, each of which has distinctive receptor activity. Postmortem, animal, and pharmacological studies have suggested that the altered RNA editing of HTR2C is involved in the pathophysiology of mental disorders, although results remain inconsistent. Here we review the techniques used for estimation of RNA editing of HTR2C. Among the techniques reported so far, a high-throughput sequencing-based method would be the most powerful method of choice for the large-scale experiments. Several different methods that were previously developed, such as pyrosequencing and capillary electrophoresis, should be suitable for validation as well as for rapid screening or exploratory purposes.