RNA editing in cardiovascular health and disease

Post-transcriptional RNA modifications can alter RNA structure, stability, localization, and function. Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing is a post-transcriptional modification that converts adenosine nucleotides in RNA to inosine nucleotides, catalyzed by adenosine-deaminase-acting-on-RNA (ADAR) enzymes. Recent studies have shown that A-to-I RNA editing is required for cardiovascular development and homeostasis whilst aberrant RNA editing plays a role in cardiovascular diseases. This article provides an overview of A-to-I RNA editing events that have been implicated in cardiovascular biology and disease. It also discusses harnessing RNA editing for cardiovascular disease biomarker development and engineering RNA editing for cardiovascular disease treatment.