The RNA editome of Macaca mulatta and functional characterization of RNA editing in mitochondria

RNA editing was first discovered in mitochondrial RNA molecular. However, whether adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing has functions in nuclear genes involved in mitochondria remains elusive. Here, we retrieved 707,246 A-to-I RNA editing sites in Macaca mulatta leveraging massive transcriptomes of 30 different tissues and genomes of nine tissues, together with the reported data, and found that A-to-I RNA editing occurred frequently in nuclear genes that have functions in mitochondria. The mitochondrial structure, the level of ATP production, and the expression of some key genes involved in mitochondrial function were dysregulated after knocking down the expression of ADAR1 and ADAR2, the key genes encoding the enzyme responsible for RNA editing. When investigating dynamic changes of RNA editing during brain development, an amino-acid-changing RNA editing site (I234/V) in MFN1, a mediator of mitochondrial fusion, was identified to be significantly correlated with age, and could influence the function of MFN1. When studying transcriptomes of brain disorder, we found that dysregulated RNA editing sites in autism were also enriched within genes having mitochondrial functions. These data indicated that RNA editing had a significant function in mitochondria via their influence on nuclear genes.