Dynamic and reversible RNA N6 -methyladenosine methylation

Abstract

N⁶ -methyladenosine (m⁶ A) is the most abundant internal chemical modification in eukaryotic messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The discovery in 2011 that m⁶ A is reversed by the fat mass and obesity-associated protein stimulated extensive worldwide research efforts on the regulatory biological functions of dynamic m⁶ A and other RNA modifications. The epitranscriptomic mark m⁶ A is written, read, and erased through the activities of a complicated network of enzymes and other proteins. m⁶ A-binding proteins read m⁶ A marks and transduce their downstream regulatory effects by altering RNA metabolic processes. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of m⁶ A modifications, with particular focus on the functions of its writer, eraser, and reader proteins in posttranscriptional gene regulation and discuss the impact of m⁶ A marks on human health. This article is categorized under: RNA Processing > RNA Editing and Modification RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease.

Keywords: RNA; epitranscriptome.