Our group is deeply interested in studying RNA editing and other modifications. There are over 100 RNA modifications, collectively called the epitranscriptome, most of which are poorly studied. Our long-term interest is to understand the biological roles of RNA modifications
Our current focus is A-to-I RNA editing where genomically enclded adenosine is changed to inosine (recognized as guanosine) in the RNA. We aim to identify RNA editing events in the entire transcriptomes, and understand their regulation and functions. We have successfully mapped the A-to-I editing in the transcriptomes of multiple species. Work in our group and others has revealed important features of the cis and trans regulation of A-to-I RNA editing. While the role of RNA editing has long thought to be most important in the nervous wsystem, recent work reveals that a critical role of RNA editing is to suppress the innate immunity, thus implicating RNA editing in autoimmune diseases and cancers. We employ a plethora of experimental approaches, ranging from molecular genetics, genomics, biochemistry, cell biology, chemical biology, computational biology to technology development.