Download or read book Mechanistic and Specificity Studies of the Isolated ADAR Deaminase Domains written by Jocelyn Virginia Havel and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ADARs (adenosine deaminases acting on RNA) are a family of RNA editing enzymes that catalyze the conversion of adenosine to inosine in double stranded RNA. Inosine is recognized as guanosine during translation, and thus A to I editing can lead to amino acids substitutions contributing to protein diversity. While there is some structural and mechanistic information available for one enzymes in this family, ADAR2, there is a distinct lack of information regarding ADAR1. This dissertation describes experiments that work towards better understanding the mechanism and specificity of these two enzymes. In the past, our lab has been able to independently study the deaminase domain of ADAR2 in the absence of the double-stranded RNA binding domains (dsRBDs) through discovery of the bromodomain factor 2 RNA substrate. This type of analysis is now possible for ADAR1 as we have recently identified BDF2 as a substrate for the ADAR1 isolated deaminase domain, described in Chapter 2. Characterization of this editing site has allowed us to develop an ADAR1 screening assay for identifying functional mutants. Chapter 3 details the use of the BDF2 substrate for nucleoside analog incorporation to make comparisons between nucleoside recognition by ADAR1 and ADAR2. It is still not clear why particular adenosines are selected for editing or how the deaminase domain interacts with dsRNA during deamination. The finding that the requirement for dsRBDs is substrate dependent has led to new editing substrates of the ADAR isolated deaminase domains. In Chapter 4, we have examined a human ADAR substrate that possess structural and sequence similarities to BDF2, hGLI1, and found that it too is edited by the deaminase domain of ADAR1. Finally, mutation of the G 3' of the edited A in hGLI1 revealed novel nearest neighbor preferences characteristic of the ADAR deaminase domains. This expands our understanding of how the deaminase domain influences specificity and activity.