Genetic Marker Found for Nervous System RNA Editing

Researchers have identified a specific DNA sequence that serves as a marker for specific genes targeted for A-to-I RNA editing, a process for modifying messenger RNA and its protein products without causing permanent changes to the organism's genome.

Investigators at the University of Connecticut Health Center (Farmington, CT, USA; www.uchc.edu) used comparative genomics to identify and experimentally verify 16 previously unknown adenosine-to-inosine editing target genes in the fruit fly Drosophila and one in humans. This is more than the sum total previously reported. All of these genes were involved in rapid electrical and chemical neurotransmission. The findings, published in the August 8, 2003, issue of Science, may help scientists to unravel nervous system disorders such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

"The proteins targeted by editing are basically the machinery that allows nervous systems to function on a timescale of milliseconds, which is not a demand placed on every organ,” explained senior author Dr. Robert Reenan, associate professor of genetics and developmental biology at the University of Connecticut. "The literal genome is not the final word and, for whatever reason, this mechanism (A-to-I editing) is almost exclusive to the nervous system.”




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