Liu Zhen-Xian, Li Li-Man, Sun Hui-Lung, Liu Song-Mei
Center for Gene Diagnosis, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Department of Chemistry and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2018 Jul 13;6:89. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2018.00089. eCollection 2018.
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) epitranscriptional modification has recently gained much attention. Through the development of m6A sequencing, the molecular mechanism and importance of m6A have been revealed. m6A is the most abundant internal modification in higher eukaryotic mRNAs, which plays crucial roles in mRNA metabolism and multiple biological processes. In this review, we introduce the characteristics of m6A regulators, including "writers" that create m6A mark, "erasers" that show demethylation activity and "readers" that decode m6A modification to govern the fate of modified transcripts. Moreover, we highlight the roles of m6A modification in several common cancers, including solid and non-solid tumors. The regulators of m6A exert enormous functions in cancer development, such as proliferation, migration and invasion. Especially, with the underlying mechanisms being uncovered, m6A and its regulators are expected to be the targets for the diagnosis and treatment of cancers.
N6-甲基腺苷（m6A）表观转录修饰最近备受关注。通过m6A测序技术的发展，m6A的分子机制及其重要性已被揭示。m6A是高等真核生物mRNA中最丰富的内部修饰，在mRNA代谢及多种生物学过程中发挥关键作用。在本综述中，我们介绍了m6A调控因子的特征，包括产生m6A标记的“书写者”、具有去甲基化活性的“擦除者”以及解码m6A修饰以决定修饰转录本命运的“阅读者”。此外，我们着重阐述了m6A修饰在几种常见癌症中的作用，包括实体瘤和非实体瘤。m6A的调控因子在癌症发展过程中发挥着巨大作用，如增殖、迁移和侵袭。特别是，随着潜在机制的不断揭示，m6A及其调控因子有望成为癌症诊断和治疗的靶点。
