School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, China.
Institute of Biology, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou 310024, China.
Cancer Biol Med. 2020 Feb 15;17(1):9-19. doi: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2019.0347.
The biological roles of N6 methylation of nucleic acids have been extensively studied. Adenine methylation of RNA is the most prevalent RNA modification and has widespread effects on RNA splicing, translation, localization, and stability. Aberrant dynamic regulation of RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has been reported in numerous human diseases, including several cancers. In recent years, eukaryotic DNA N6-methyladenosine (6mA) has also been reported and implicated in cancer progression and tumorigenesis. In this review, we summarize the contributions of N6-methyladenosine modification to cancer biology and pathogenesis in the context of both RNA and DNA. We also highlight the clinical relevance of targeting these modifications as a therapeutic strategy for cancer.
核酸 N6 甲基化的生物学作用已经得到了广泛的研究。RNA 的腺嘌呤甲基化是最常见的 RNA 修饰，对 RNA 的剪接、翻译、定位和稳定性都有广泛的影响。在许多人类疾病中，包括几种癌症中，已经报道了 RNA N6-甲基腺苷（m6A）的动态调节异常。近年来，真核生物 DNA N6-甲基腺苷（6mA）也被报道，并与癌症的进展和肿瘤发生有关。在这篇综述中，我们总结了 N6-甲基腺苷修饰在 RNA 和 DNA 背景下对癌症生物学和发病机制的贡献。我们还强调了将这些修饰作为癌症治疗策略的靶向的临床相关性。
