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Review
. 2020 Dec 7;20(1):585.
doi: 10.1186/s12935-020-01679-w.

Emerging roles of RNA methylation in gastrointestinal cancers

Shanshan Xie  1   2 , Wenwen Chen  2 , Kanghua Chen  2 , Yongxia Chang  2 , Feng Yang  2 , Aifu Lin  3 , Qiang Shu  1 , Tianhua Zhou  4   5 , Xiaoyi Yan  6
Affiliations
Review

Emerging roles of RNA methylation in gastrointestinal cancers

Shanshan Xie et al. Cancer Cell Int. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal cancers; RNA methylation; m1A; m5C; m6A; m6Am.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The distribution of methylation in mRNA. The preferential locations of each methylation within mRNA are shown. m6A N6-methyladenosine, m6Am 2-O-dimethyladenosine, m1A N1-methyladenosine, m5C 5-methylcytosine, m7G 7-methyl guanosine
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Molecular composition of RNA methylation. Reversible methylations on RNAs are mediated by RNA modifying proteins called “writers” (yellow), “erasers” (blue). “Readers” (green) are also shown
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The roles of RNA methylation in RNA metabolism. RNA methylation is involved in the regulation of RNA metabolism processes, including RNA capping, splicing, stabilization, translation and nuclear exportation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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