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Epitranscriptomics

Shrinking maps of RNA modifications

Nature volume 551, pages 174–176 (2017)Cite this article

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The presence of N1 methyl groups on adenine bases was thought to be widespread in messenger RNAs. It now seems that these modifications are much less prevalent, and occur on mRNAs that structurally mimic transfer RNA. See Letter p.251

The fate of messenger RNAs is determined by the sequence of their four main molecular building blocks: adenosine, guanosine, cytidine and uridine. However, these components can be chemically modified in ways that impart additional information to mRNAs. The identity and location of such modifications in the transcriptome — the complete set of mRNA molecules found in a cell — comprise the epitranscriptomic code. In 2016, two studies1,2 expanded this code by reporting that there are more than 7,000 N1-methyladenosine (m1A) modifications spread across the diverse mRNA transcripts in the cell. On page 251, Safra et al.3 overturn the concept that m1A is an abundant epitranscriptomic regulatory mark, and reveal principles that guide the formation of these RNA modifications in mRNA.

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Figure 1: Mimicry of non-coding RNA structures by messenger RNA directs nucleotide modification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, 10065, New York, USA

    Anya V. Grozhik & Samie R. Jaffrey

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  1. Anya V. Grozhik
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  2. Samie R. Jaffrey
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Correspondence to Samie R. Jaffrey.

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Molecular biology: RNA modification does a regulatory two-step

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Grozhik, A., Jaffrey, S. Shrinking maps of RNA modifications. Nature 551, 174–176 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24156

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