Sheng Nan, Qiao Jianbo, Wei Leyi, Shi Hua, Guo Huannan, Yang Changshun
School of Software, Shandong University, Jinan 250101, PR China.
School of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, PR China.
Methods. 2025 Aug;240:113-124. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2025.04.011. Epub 2025 Apr 21.
RNA modifications play a crucial role in enhancing the structural and functional diversity of RNA molecules and regulating various stages of the RNA life cycle. Among these modifications, N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) is the most common internal modification in eukaryotic mRNAs and has been extensively studied over the past decade. Accurate identification of m6A modification sites is essential for understanding their function and underlying mechanisms. Traditional methods predominantly rely on machine learning techniques to recognize m6A sites, which often fail to capture the contextual features of these sites comprehensively. In this study, we comprehensively summarize previously published methods based on machine learning and deep learning. We also validate multiple deep learning approaches on benchmark dataset, including previously underutilized methods in m6A site prediction, pre-trained models specifically designed for biological sequence and other basic deep learning methods. Additionally, we further analyze the dataset features and interpret the model's predictions to enhance understanding. Our experimental results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the deep learning models, elucidating their strong potential in accurately recognizing m6A modification sites.
RNA修饰在增强RNA分子的结构和功能多样性以及调节RNA生命周期的各个阶段中起着至关重要的作用。在这些修饰中,N6-甲基腺苷(m6A)是真核生物mRNA中最常见的内部修饰,并且在过去十年中受到了广泛研究。准确识别m6A修饰位点对于理解其功能和潜在机制至关重要。传统方法主要依靠机器学习技术来识别m6A位点,而这些方法往往无法全面捕捉这些位点的上下文特征。在本研究中,我们全面总结了先前基于机器学习和深度学习发表的方法。我们还在基准数据集上验证了多种深度学习方法,包括先前在m6A位点预测中未充分利用的方法、专门为生物序列设计的预训练模型以及其他基本深度学习方法。此外,我们进一步分析了数据集特征并解释模型的预测结果以加深理解。我们的实验结果清楚地证明了深度学习模型的有效性,阐明了它们在准确识别m6A修饰位点方面的强大潜力。