N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent internal (non-cap) modification present in the messenger RNA (mRNA) of all higher eukaryotes1,2. Although essential to cell viability and development3–5, the exact role of m6A modification remains to be determined. The recent discovery of two m6A demethylases in mammalian cells highlighted the importance of m6A in basic biological functions and disease6–8. Here we show that m6A is selectively recognized by the human YTH domain family 2 (YTHDF2) protein to regulate mRNA degradation. We identified over 3,000 cellular RNA targets of YTHDF2, most of which are mRNAs, but which also include non-coding RNAs, with a conserved core motif of G(m6A)C. We further establish the role of YTHDF2 in RNA metabolism, showing that binding of YTHDF2 results in the localization of bound mRNA from the translatable pool to mRNA decay sites, such as processing bodies9. The C-terminal domain of YTHDF2 selectively binds to m6A-containing mRNA whereas the N-terminal domain is responsible for the localization of the YTHDF2-mRNA complex to cellular RNA decay sites. Our results indicate that the dynamic m6A modification is recognized by selective-binding proteins to affect the translation status and lifetime of mRNA.

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We report here that FTO (fat mass and obesity-associated protein) exhibits efficient oxidative demethylation activity of abundant N6-methyladenosine (m6A) residues in RNA in vitro. FTO knockdown with siRNA led to an increased level of m6A in mRNA, whereas overexpression of FTO resulted in a decreased level of m6A in human cells. We further show that FTO partially colocalizes with nuclear speckles, supporting m6A in nuclear RNA as a physiological substrate of FTO.

SUMMARY N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent internal modification of messenger RNA (mRNA) in higher eukaryotes. Here we report ALKBH5 as another mammalian demethylase that oxidatively reverses m6A in mRNA in vitro and in vivo. This demethylation activity of ALKBH5 significantly affects mRNA export and RNA metabolism as well as the assembly of mRNA processing factors in nuclear speckles. Alkbh5-deficient male mice have increased m6A in mRNA and are characterized by impaired fertility resulting from apoptosis that affects meiotic metaphase-stage spermatocytes. In accordance with this defect, we have identified in mouse testes 1,551 differentially expressed genes that cover broad functional categories and include spermatogenesis-related mRNAs involved in the p53 functional interaction network. The discovery of this RNA demethylase strongly suggests that the reversible m6A modification has fundamental and broad functions in mammalian cells.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent and reversible internal modification in mammalian messenger and non-coding RNAs. We report here that human METTL14 catalyzes m6A RNA methylation. Together with METTL3, the only previously known m6A methyltransferase, these two proteins form a stable heterodimer core complex of METTL3-14 that functions in cellular m6A deposition on mammalian nuclear RNAs. WTAP, a mammalian splicing factor, can interact with this complex and affect this methylation.

5-methylcytosine (5mC) in DNA plays an important role in gene expression, genomic imprinting, and suppression of transposable elements. 5mC can be converted to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) by the Tet proteins. Here we show that, in addition to 5hmC, the Tet proteins can generate 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC) from 5mC in an enzymatic activity-dependent manner. Furthermore, we reveal the presence of 5fC and 5caC in genomic DNA of mouse ES cells and mouse organs. The genomic content of 5hmC, 5fC, and 5caC can be increased or reduced through overexpression or depletion of Tet proteins. Thus, we identify two new cytosine derivatives in genomic DNA as the products of Tet proteins. Our study raises the possibility that DNA demethylation may occur through Tet-catalyzed oxidation followed by decarboxylation.

The prevalent DNA modification in higher organisms is the methylation of cytosine to 5-methylcytosine (5mC), which is partially converted to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) by the Tet (ten eleven translocation) family of dioxygenases. Despite their importance in epigenetic regulation, it is unclear how these cytosine modifications are reversed. Here, we demonstrate that 5mC and 5hmC in DNA are oxidized to 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC) by Tet dioxygenases in vitro and in cultured cells. 5caC is specifically recognized and excised by thymine-DNA glycosylase (TDG). Depletion of TDG in mouse embyronic stem cells leads to accumulation of 5caC to a readily detectable level. These data suggest that oxidation of 5mC by Tet proteins followed by TDG-mediated base excision of 5caC constitutes a pathway for active DNA demethylation.

RNA-binding proteins control many aspects of cellular biology through binding single-stranded RNA binding motifs (RBM)1-3. However, RBMs can be buried within their local RNA structures4-7, thus inhibiting RNA-protein interactions. N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most abundant and dynamic internal modification in eukaryotic messenger RNA8-19, can be selectively recognized by the YTHDF2 protein to affect the stability of cytoplasmic mRNAs15, but how m6A achieves wide-ranging physiological significance needs further exploration. Here we show that m6A controls the RNA-structure-dependent accessibility of RBMs to affect RNA-protein interactions for biological regulation; we term this mechanism “m6A-switch”. We found that m6A alters the local structure in mRNA and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) to facilitate binding of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein C (hnRNP C), an abundant nuclear RNA-binding protein responsible for pre-mRNA processing20-24. Combining PAR-CLIP and m6A/MeRIP approaches enabled us to identify 39,060 m6A-switches among hnRNP C binding sites; and global m6A reduction decreased hnRNP C binding at 2,798 high confidence m6A-switches. We determined that these m6A-switch-regulated hnRNP C binding activities affect the abundance as well as alternative splicing of target mRNAs, demonstrating the regulatory role of m6A-switches on gene expression and RNA maturation. Our results illustrate how RNA-binding proteins gain regulated access to their RBMs through m6A-dependent RNA structural remodeling, and provide a new direction for investigating RNA-modification-coded cellular biology.