Identification of Editing Sites in Mature miRNAs Using RNA Sequencing

Deep sequencing has many possible applications; one of them is the identification and quantification of RNA editing sites. The most common type of RNA editing is adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) editing. A prerequisite for this editing process is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) structure. Such dsRNAs are formed as part of the microRNA (miRNA) maturation process, and it is therefore expected that miRNAs are affected by A-to-I editing.

Researchers at Tel-Aviv University have developed a protocol for the identification of RNA editing sites in mature miRNAs using deep sequencing data and have indeed, found many editing sites in miRNAs, some of which change the miRNA binding specificity.