Adenosine Deaminase, RNA Specific B1 (ADARB1)

ADARB1 encodes the enzyme responsible for pre-mRNA editing of the glutamate receptor subunit B by site-specific deamination of adenosines. Studies in rat found that this enzyme acted on its own pre-mRNA molecules to convert an AA dinucleotide to an AI dinucleotide which resulted in a new splice site. Alternative splicing of this gene results in several transcript variants, some of which have been characterized by the presence or absence of an ALU cassette insert and a short or long C-terminal region. The human gene, ADARB1, comprises 741 amino acids and contains 2 double-stranded RNA-binding domains in its N-terminal region. The authors detected 2 transcripts of 8.8 and 4.2 kb that were strongly expressed in brain and in many human adult and fetal tissues.