m6A RNA methylation regulators could contribute to the occurrence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Published in: Journal of cellular and molecular medicine Vol. 24; no. 21; pp. 12706 - 12715
• Main Authors: Huang, Xinwei, Lv, Dongjin, Yang, Xiao, Li, Min, Zhang, Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.11.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adenosine - analogs & derivatives; Adenosine - metabolism; Airway management; bioinformatics; Case-Control Studies; Cell cycle; Chemical modification; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Datasets; Disease; DNA methylation; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation; Gene Ontology; Genomes; Humans; IGF2BP3; Lung diseases; m6A RNA methylation regulators; Methylation; METTL3; N6-methyladenosine; Obstructive lung disease; Original; Proteins; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - genetics; RNA - metabolism; RNA modification; Signal transduction; Tumors; m6A RNA methylation regulators; IGF2BP3; METTL3; bioinformatics; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• ISSN: 1582-1838; 1582-4934; 1582-4934
• DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.15848

N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation, the most prevalent internal chemical modification of mRNA, has been reported to participate in the progression of various tumours via the dynamic regulation of m6A RNA methylation regulators. However, the role of m6A RNA methylation regulators in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has never been reported. This study aimed to determine the expression and potential functions of m6A RNA methylation regulators in COPD. Four gene expression data sets were acquired from Gene Expression Omnibus. Gene ontology function, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses, weighted correlation network analysis and protein‐protein interaction network analysis were performed. The correlation analyses of m6A RNA methylation regulators and key COPD genes were also performed. We found that the mRNA expressions of IGF2BP3, FTO, METTL3 and YTHDC2, which have the significant associations with some key genes enriched in the signalling pathway and biological processes that promote the development progression of COPD, are highly correlated with the occurrence of COPD. In conclusion, six central m6A RNA methylation regulators could contribute to the occurrence of COPD. This study provides important evidence for further examination of the role of m6A RNA methylation in COPD.