RNA regulation of the immune system

Abstract

This volume of Immunological Reviews focuses on RNA regulation of the immune system, with a heavy dose of microRNAs (miRNAs) and a sampling of other key processes, including alternative splicing, RNA-binding proteins that control messenger RNA (mRNA) stability and translation, and attempts to harness the miRNA machinery for therapeutic ends through RNA interference (RNAi). Conspicuously and intentionally underrepresented due to space constraints are two topics that deserve issues of their own: Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and immune recognition of RNA and its role in genome defense, host defense, and autoimmunity. The authors have all made important contributions to our understanding of RNA regulation of the immune system, and in some cases have pioneered and defined whole sectors of the field. Major topics of their reviews are indicated using the initials of each corresponding author in Fig. 1. The figure also provides a simplified schematic overview of RNA regulation of gene expression within a cell and its effects on cell biology and emergent properties of the immune system. Fig. 1 Schematic overview of RNA biogenesis and regulation in the immune system, and pictorial table of contents for this issue of Immunological Reviews