Cargando…
Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’
The discovery of mechanisms that alter genetic information via RNA editing or introducing covalent RNA modifications points towards a complexity in gene expression that challenges long-standing concepts. Understanding the biology of RNA modifications represents one of the next frontiers in molecular...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Royal Society
2017
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5451548/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28566301 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsob.170077 |
_version_ | 1783240205824688128 |
---|---|
author | Schaefer, Matthias Kapoor, Utkarsh Jantsch, Michael F. |
author_facet | Schaefer, Matthias Kapoor, Utkarsh Jantsch, Michael F. |
author_sort | Schaefer, Matthias |
collection | PubMed |
description | The discovery of mechanisms that alter genetic information via RNA editing or introducing covalent RNA modifications points towards a complexity in gene expression that challenges long-standing concepts. Understanding the biology of RNA modifications represents one of the next frontiers in molecular biology. To this date, over 130 different RNA modifications have been identified, and improved mass spectrometry approaches are still adding to this list. However, only recently has it been possible to map selected RNA modifications at single-nucleotide resolution, which has created a number of exciting hypotheses about the biological function of RNA modifications, culminating in the proposition of the ‘epitranscriptome’. Here, we review some of the technological advances in this rapidly developing field, identify the conceptual challenges and discuss approaches that are needed to rigorously test the biological function of specific RNA modifications. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5451548 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | The Royal Society |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-54515482017-06-01 Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ Schaefer, Matthias Kapoor, Utkarsh Jantsch, Michael F. Open Biol Review The discovery of mechanisms that alter genetic information via RNA editing or introducing covalent RNA modifications points towards a complexity in gene expression that challenges long-standing concepts. Understanding the biology of RNA modifications represents one of the next frontiers in molecular biology. To this date, over 130 different RNA modifications have been identified, and improved mass spectrometry approaches are still adding to this list. However, only recently has it been possible to map selected RNA modifications at single-nucleotide resolution, which has created a number of exciting hypotheses about the biological function of RNA modifications, culminating in the proposition of the ‘epitranscriptome’. Here, we review some of the technological advances in this rapidly developing field, identify the conceptual challenges and discuss approaches that are needed to rigorously test the biological function of specific RNA modifications. The Royal Society 2017-05-31 /pmc/articles/PMC5451548/ /pubmed/28566301 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsob.170077 Text en © 2017 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Review Schaefer, Matthias Kapoor, Utkarsh Jantsch, Michael F. Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ |
title | Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ |
title_full | Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ |
title_fullStr | Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ |
title_full_unstemmed | Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ |
title_short | Understanding RNA modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ |
title_sort | understanding rna modifications: the promises and technological bottlenecks of the ‘epitranscriptome’ |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5451548/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28566301 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsob.170077 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT schaefermatthias understandingrnamodificationsthepromisesandtechnologicalbottlenecksoftheepitranscriptome AT kapoorutkarsh understandingrnamodificationsthepromisesandtechnologicalbottlenecksoftheepitranscriptome AT jantschmichaelf understandingrnamodificationsthepromisesandtechnologicalbottlenecksoftheepitranscriptome |