Spatial control of m6A deposition on enhancer and promoter RNAs through co-acetylation of METTL3 and H3K27 on chromatin

Abstract

Interaction between the N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) methyltransferase METTL3 and METTL14 is critical for METTL3 to deposit m⁶A on various types of RNAs. It remains to be uncovered whether there is spatial control of m⁶A deposition on different types of RNAs. Here, through genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screening in the A549 cell line, we find that H3K27ac acetylase p300-mediated METTL3 acetylation suppresses the binding of METTL3 on H3K27ac-marked chromatin by inhibiting its interaction with METTL14. Consistently, p300 catalyzing the acetylation of METTL3 specifically occurs on H3K27ac-marked chromatin. Disruptive mutations on METTL3 acetylation sites selectively promote the m⁶A of chromatin-associated RNAs from p300-bound enhancers and promoters marked by H3K27ac, resulting in transcription inhibition of ferroptosis-inhibition-related genes. In addition, PAK2 promotes METTL3 acetylation by phosphorylating METTL3. Inhibition of PAK2 promotes ferroptosis in a manner that depends on the acetylation of METTL3. Our study reveals a spatial-selective way to specifically regulate the deposition of m⁶A on enhancer and promoter RNAs.

Keywords: H3K27ac; METTL3; PAK2; chromatin-associated RNA; m(6)A; p300.