Detecting RNA modifications in the epitranscriptome: predict and validate.

RNA modifications are emerging players in the field of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression, and are attracting a comparable degree of research interest to DNA and histone modifications in the field of epigenetics. We now know of more than 150 RNA modifications and the true potential of a few of these is currently emerging as the consequence of a leap in detection technology, principally associated with high-throughput sequencing. This Review outlines the major developments in this field through a structured discussion of detection principles, lays out advantages and drawbacks of new high-throughput methods and presents conventional biophysical identification of modifications as meaningful ways for validation.