Amichan, Y. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2023

ADBP-1 regulates ADR-2 nuclear localization to control editing substrate selection

Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing, catalyzed by ADAR enzymes, is a prevalent and conserved RNA modification. While A-to-I RNA editing is essential in mammals, in Caenorhabditis elegans, it is not, making them invaluable for RNA editing research. In C. elegans, ADR-2 is the sole catalytic A-to-I editing enzyme, and ADR-1 is an RNA editing regulator. ADAR localization is well-studied in humans but not well-established in C. elegans. In this study, we examine the cellular and tissue-specific localization of ADR-2. We show that while ADR-2 is present in most cells in the embryo, at later developmental stages, its expression is both tissue- and cell-type-specific. Additionally, both ADARs are mainly in the nucleus. ADR-2 is adjacent to the chromosomes during the cell cycle. We show that the nuclear localization of endogenous ADR-2 depends on ADBP-1, not ADR-1. In adbp-1 mutant worms, ADR-2 is mislocalized, while ADR-1 is not, leading to decreased editing levels and de-novo editing, mostly in exons, suggesting that ADR-2 is also functional in the cytoplasm. Besides, mutated ADBP-1 affects gene expression. Furthermore, we show that ADR-2 targets adenosines with different surrounding nucleotides in exons and introns. Our findings indicate that ADR-2 cellular localization is highly regulated and affects its function.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2023

ADARs regulate cuticle collagen expression to promote survival to pathogen infection

BackgroundIn all organisms, the innate immune system defends against pathogens through basal expression of molecules that provide critical barriers to invasion and inducible expression of effectors that combat infection. The adenosine deaminase that act on RNA (ADAR) family of RNA binding proteins has been reported to influence innate immunity in metazoans. However, studies on the susceptibility of ADAR mutant animals to infection are largely lacking. ResultsHere, by analyzing adr-1 and adr-2 null mutants in well-established slow-killing assays, we find that both Caenorhabditis elegans ADARs are important for organismal survival to gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, all of which are pathogenic to humans. Furthermore, our high-throughput sequencing and genetic analysis reveal that ADR-1 and ADR-2 function in the same pathway to regulate collagen expression. Consistent with this finding, our scanning electron microscopy studies indicate adr-1;adr-2 mutant animals also have altered cuticle morphology prior to pathogen exposure. ConclusionsOur data uncover a critical role of the C. elegans ADAR family of RNA binding proteins in promoting cuticular collagen expression, which represents a new post-transcriptional regulatory node that influences the extracellular matrix. In addition, we provide the first evidence that ADAR mutant animals have altered susceptibility to infection with several opportunistic human pathogens, suggesting a broader role of ADARs in altering physical barriers to infection to influence innate immunity.

molecular biology↗