Search

The field of epitranscriptomics examines the recently deciphered form of gene expression regulation that is mediated by type- and site-specific RNA modifications. Similarly to the role played by epigenetic mechanisms - which operate via DNA and histone modifications - epitranscriptomic modifications are involved in the control of the delicate gene expression patterns that are needed for the development and activity of the nervous system and are essential for basic and higher brain functions. Here we describe the mechanisms that are involved in the writing, erasing and reading of N 6 -methyladenosine, the most prevalent internal mRNA modification, and the emerging roles played by N 6 -methyladenosine in the nervous system.

The cellular proteome reflects the total outcome of many regulatory mechanisms that affect the metabolism of messenger RNA (mRNA) along its pathway from synthesis to degradation. Accumulating evidence in recent years has uncovered the roles of a growing number of mRNA modifications in every step along this pathway, shaping translational output. mRNA modifications affect the translation machinery directly, by influencing translation initiation, elongation and termination, or by altering mRNA levels and subcellular localization. Features of modification-related translational control are described, charting a new and complex layer of translational regulation., (Copyright © 2019 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.)

A detailed protocol for isolation and sequencing of an enriched population of m(6)A-methylated RNA fragments to create m(6)A methylome maps is outlined. Our approach was developed to fill a void that existed because of a lack of methods for the detection of m(6)A in RNA in an unbiased, high-throughput, and high-resolution manner. This method integrates immunoprecipitation of methylated, randomly fragmented RNA using a highly specific anti-m(6)A antibody to obtain an enriched population of modified fragments and massively parallel sequencing, resulting in mapping of this modification throughout the transcriptome., (© 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)