The Role of RNA Editing in the Immune Response

The innate immune receptors in higher organisms have evolved to detect molecular signatures associated with pathogenic infection and trigger appropriate immune response. One common class of molecules utilized by the innate immune system for self vs. nonself discrimination is RNA, which is ironically present in all forms of life. To avoid self-RNA recognition, the innate immune sensors have evolved sophisticated discriminatory mechanisms that involve cellular RNA metabolic machineries. Posttranscriptional RNA modification and editing represent one such mechanism that allows cells to chemically tag the host RNAs as "self" and thus tolerate the abundant self-RNA molecules. In this chapter, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of the role of RNA editing/modification in the modulation of immune signaling pathways, and application of RNA editing/modification in RNA-based therapeutics and cancer immunotherapies.