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Review
. 2020 Sep;10(9):200091.
doi: 10.1098/rsob.200091. Epub 2020 Sep 9.

Insight into m6A methylation from occurrence to functions

Affiliations
Review

Insight into m6A methylation from occurrence to functions

Wenxiu Ru et al. Open Biol. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

RNA m6A methylation is a post-transcriptional modification that occurs at the nitrogen-6 position of adenine. This dynamically reversible modification is installed, removed and recognized by methyltransferases, demethylases and readers, respectively. This modification has been found in most eukaryotic mRNA, tRNA, rRNA and other non-coding RNA. Recent studies have revealed important regulatory functions of the m6A including effects on gene expression regulation, organism development and cancer development. In this review, we summarize the discovery and features of m6A, and briefly introduce the mammalian m6A writers, erasers and readers. Finally, we discuss progress in identifying additional functions of m6A and the outstanding questions about the regulatory effect of this widespread modification.

Keywords: erasers; functions; m6A methylation; readers; writers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The patterns and functions of m6A methylation. The m6A methylation, occurs at the sixth N atom of RNA adenine, is installed by methyltransferase and erased by demethylase in the nucleus. The m6A readers that preferentially recognize m6A-containing RNA can impact the fate of the methylated RNA and give diverse regulatory function. In the nucleus, combination of m6A with hnRNP proteins or YTHDC1 can affect splicing of pre-mRNAs and combination with YTHDC1 mediates the export of methylated mRNA. In addition, combination with hnRNPA2B1 facilitates the processing of methylated pri-miRNA. In cytoplasm, YTHDF1, YTHDC2 and eIF3 bind to the methylated mRNAs to promote translation. YTHDF2, YTHDC1 and YTHDC2 bind to the methylated mRNAs to accelerate decay. Furthermore YTHDF3 combining with the YTHDF1 can promote targeted mRNA translation and combining with YTHDF2 can accelerate degradation. More m6A readers and other functions need to identify in m6A-modified mRNA.

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