Cancer Translational Research Team, RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, 1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan.
Division of Molecular Modification and Cancer Biology, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
Biomolecules. 2020 Jul 17;10(7):1071. doi: 10.3390/biom10071071.
Studies have shown that epigenetic abnormalities are involved in various diseases, including cancer. In particular, in order to realize precision medicine, the integrated analysis of genetics and epigenetics is considered to be important; detailed epigenetic analysis in the medical field has been becoming increasingly important. In the epigenetics analysis, DNA methylation and histone modification analyses have been actively studied for a long time, and many important findings were accumulated. On the other hand, recently, attention has also been focused on RNA modification in the field of epigenetics; now it is known that RNA modification is associated with various biological functions, such as regulation of gene expression. Among RNA modifications, functional analysis of -methyladenosine (mA), the most abundant RNA modification found from humans to plants is actively progressing, and it has also been known that mA abnormality is involved in cancer and other diseases. Importantly, recent studies have shown that mA is related to viral infections. Considering the current world situation under threat of viral infections, it is important to deepen knowledge of RNA modification from the viewpoint of viral diseases. Hence, in this review, we have summarized the recent findings regarding the roles of RNA modifications in biological functions, cancer biology, and virus infection, particularly focusing on mA in mRNA.
研究表明，表观遗传异常与包括癌症在内的各种疾病有关。特别是，为了实现精准医学，被认为重要的是遗传学和表观遗传学的综合分析；在医学领域中，对表观遗传的详细分析变得越来越重要。在表观遗传学分析中，DNA 甲基化和组蛋白修饰分析长期以来一直受到积极研究，并积累了许多重要的发现。另一方面，最近，在表观遗传学领域也开始关注 RNA 修饰；现在已知 RNA 修饰与各种生物功能有关，例如基因表达的调控。在 RNA 修饰中，-甲基腺苷（mA）的功能分析，这是从人类到植物中发现的最丰富的 RNA 修饰，其活性正在积极进展，并且已经知道 mA 异常与癌症和其他疾病有关。重要的是，最近的研究表明 mA 与病毒感染有关。考虑到目前病毒感染威胁下的世界形势，从病毒疾病的角度加深对 RNA 修饰的认识非常重要。因此，在这篇综述中，我们总结了 RNA 修饰在生物学功能、癌症生物学和病毒感染中的最新发现，特别是重点关注 mRNA 中的 mA。
