Implicações da edição de ARN do tipo A para I em ARN circular

• Main Author: Rodrigues, Artur Filipe Cardoso Duarte
• Publication Date: 2014
• Format: Master thesis
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/14306
• topic: Biotecnologia molecular; Ácido ribonucleico; Bioinformática

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been stated as new splicing patterns which have emerged recently as a naturally abundant configuration, conserved in Eukarya, Bacteria and Archaea. CircRNAs were shown to be enriched in Alu elements in their flanking regions, which may form pairs with other repeats in inverted orientation in the opposite flank. Therefore, it has been postulated that pairing between inverted Alu elements may promote RNA circularisation by bringing closer both splice sites. Alu elements are repetitive, primate-specific retrotransposons from the SINE family, which comprise about 10% of the human genome. Abundance of inverted Alu pairs creates stable substrates for A to I RNA editing. A to I RNA editing is a posttranscriptional modification, where adenosines (A) are converted into inosines (I), which are interpreted as guanosines by the cellular machinery, with implications on alternative splicing. In this thesis, we aimed to understand the influence of A to I RNA editing in inverted Alu elements flanking circRNAs through computational analysis of publicly available circRNA datasets. We hypothesised and confirmed that A to I RNA editing is reduced in these Alu elements, confirming their importance in circRNA biogenesis.