The emerging roles of N6-methyladenosine RNA methylation in human cancers

Abstract

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant form of mRNA modification in eukaryotes. It affects various aspects of RNA metabolism, including nuclear export, translation, decay and alternative splicing. In addition, m6A also participates in a great number of human physiological processes, ranging from spermatogenesis modulation, response to heat shock, the control of T cell homeostasis to stem cell proliferation and differentiation. The dynamic equilibrium of m6A level is regulated by m6A methyltransferases (“writers”), m6A demethylases (“erasers”) as well as m6A-binding proteins (“readers”). Once the balance is broken, numerous diseases will knock on the door. Recently, increasing studies reveal that m6A methylation exerts a profound impact on tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the functions of m6A modification and its emerging roles in human cancers, and discuss the potential of m6A regulators as biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

Demethylation of Nucleobases and Current Developments

“…Nükleobaz metilasyonu tek bir metilasyon tepkimesi ile sınırlı değildir; aynı konumun (exN konumu için mümkün olan metil-6-Adenozin) veya farklı konumların (metil2-metil8-Adenozin) çift metilasyon örnekleri bilinmektedir [15][16] . RNA cap'te metil-2,2,7Guanozin olduğu gibi üçlü metilasyon da meydana gelebilir 17 .…”

<p>ZFAS1 Exerts an Oncogenic Role via Suppressing miR-647 in an m⁶A-Dependent Manner in Cervical Cancer</p>

“…Recently, N(6)-methyladenosine (m 6 A) modification in mRNA or lncRNA functionally modulate the RNA splicing, localization, stability, and ceRNA activity. 15,16 We performed methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) assays in Caski and Hela cells and found that ZFAS1 could be significantly enriched by m 6 A antibody compared to IgG (Figure 5A). The m 6 A modification sites of ZFAS1 was predicted by SRAMP online tool (www.cuilab.cn) (Supplemental Table 1).…”

N6-methyladenosine methyltransferases: functions, regulation, and clinical potential

“…In addition, specific RNA-binding proteins that recognize m6A and affect the fate of RNAs are grouped as m6A readers, such as the YTH domain family of proteins [ 14 ] and IGF2BP proteins [ 15 ]. Currently, m6A has emerged as a widespread regulatory mechanism that controls gene expression [ 16 ].…”