Pan-Cancer Analysis Links Altered RNA mG Methyltransferase Expression to Oncogenic Pathways, Immune Cell Infiltrations and Overall Survival.

BACKGROUND

N7-methylguanosine (mG) modification is one of the most prevalent RNA modifications in humans. Dysregulated mG modifications caused by aberrant expression of mG writers contribute to cancer progression and result in worse patient survival in several human cancers. However, studies that systematically assess the frequency and clinical relevance of aberrant mG writer expression in a pan-cancer cohort remain to be performed.

AIMS

This study aims to systematically investigate the molecular alteration and clinical relevance of mG methyltransferase in human cancers.

METHODS

We analysed genome, transcriptome and clinical data from the Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network spanning 33 types of human cancers for aberrant changes in genes encoding mG writers.

RESULT

We demonstrate that mG writers are dysregulated in human cancers and are associated predominantly with poorer survival. By dividing patients into those with high and low mG scores, we show that a lower mG score is generally associated with immune infiltration and better response to immunotherapy.

CONCLUSION

Our analyses indicate the genetic alterations, expression patterns and clinical relevance of mG writers across various cancers. This study provides insights into the potential utility of mG writer expression as a cancer biomarker and proposes the possibility of targeting mG writers for cancer therapy.