Xie Shanshan, Chen Wenwen, Chen Kanghua, Chang Yongxia, Yang Feng, Lin Aifu, Shu Qiang, Zhou Tianhua, Yan Xiaoyi
The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310052, China.
Department of Cell Biology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Cancer Cell Int. 2020 Dec 7;20(1):585. doi: 10.1186/s12935-020-01679-w.
RNA methylation has emerged as a fundamental process in epigenetic regulation. Accumulating evidences indicate that RNA methylation is essential for many biological functions, and its dysregulation is associated with human cancer progression, particularly in gastrointestinal cancers. RNA methylation has a variety of biological properties, including N6-methyladenosine (m6A), 2-O-dimethyladenosine (m6Am), N1-methyladenosine (m1A), 5-methylcytosine (m5C) and 7-methyl guanosine (m7G). Dynamic and reversible methylation on RNA is mediated by RNA modifying proteins called "writers" (methyltransferases) and "erasers" (demethylases). "Readers" (modified RNA binding proteins) recognize and bind to RNA methylation sites, which influence the splicing, stability or translation of modified RNAs. Herein, we summarize the biological functions and mechanisms of these well-known RNA methylations, especially focusing on the roles of m6A in gastrointestinal cancer development.
RNA甲基化已成为表观遗传调控中的一个基本过程。越来越多的证据表明，RNA甲基化对许多生物学功能至关重要，其失调与人类癌症进展相关，尤其是在胃肠道癌症中。RNA甲基化具有多种生物学特性，包括N6-甲基腺苷（m6A）、2'-O-二甲基腺苷（m6Am）、N1-甲基腺苷（m1A）、5-甲基胞嘧啶（m5C）和7-甲基鸟苷（m7G）。RNA上的动态可逆甲基化由称为“书写器”（甲基转移酶）和“橡皮擦”（去甲基酶）的RNA修饰蛋白介导。“阅读器”（修饰的RNA结合蛋白）识别并结合到RNA甲基化位点，这会影响修饰RNA的剪接、稳定性或翻译。在此，我们总结了这些著名的RNA甲基化的生物学功能和机制，尤其关注m6A在胃肠道癌症发生中的作用。
