Recent advances of m6A methylation in skeletal system disease

Abstract

Skeletal system disease (SSD) is defined as a class of chronic disorders of skeletal system with poor prognosis and causes heavy economic burden. m6A, methylation at the N6 position of adenosine in RNA, is a reversible and dynamic modification in posttranscriptional mRNA. Evidences suggest that m6A modifications play a crucial role in regulating biological processes of all kinds of diseases, such as malignancy. Recently studies have revealed that as the most abundant epigentic modification, m6A is involved in the progression of SSD. However, the function of m6A modification in SSD is not fully illustrated. Therefore, make clear the relationship between m6A modification and SSD pathogenesis might provide novel sights for prevention and targeted treatment of SSD. This article will summarize the recent advances of m6A regulation in the biological processes of SSD, including osteoporosis, osteosarcoma, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and discuss the potential clinical value, research challenge and future prospect of m6A modification in SSD.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis; Osteoporosis; Osteosarcoma; Rheumatoid arthritis; m6A modification.

Fig. 1

Structural schematic diagram of reversible and dynamic posttranscriptional m6A modification of RNA. a. In the nucleus, methyltransferases and demethylases regulated the m6A modifications of target mRNAs. b. In the nucleus, m6A readers such as hnRNPA2B1 regulated the splicing process of target mRNAs. c. In the cytoplasm, m6A readers such as YTHDF1 regulated the translation process of target mRNAs. d. In the cytoplasm, m6A readers such as IGF2BP1 regulated the stability of target mRNAs. e. In the cytoplasm, m6A readers such as YTHDF3 mediated the degradation of target mRNAs

Fig. 2

Structural schematic diagram of m6A related protein in regulating osteogenesis in osteoporosis. The role of m6A writers, easers work with readers in regulating the osteogenesis of BMSC and then affacting osteoporosis