The METTL3-m 6 A Epitranscriptome: Dynamic Regulator of Epithelial Development, Differentiation, and Cancer

Dynamic modifications on RNA, frequently termed both, "RNA epigenetics" and "epitranscriptomics", offer one of the most exciting emerging areas of gene regulation and biomedicine. Similar to chromatin-based epigenetic mechanisms, writers, readers, and erasers regulate both the pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGenes Vol. 12; no. 7
Main Authors Maldonado López, Alexandra, Capell, Brian C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland 30.06.2021
Subjects
Adenosine - analogs & derivatives
Adenosine - chemistry
Cell Differentiation
Epigenesis, Genetic
Epithelial Cells - metabolism
Epithelial Cells - pathology
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
Methyltransferases - chemistry
Methyltransferases - genetics
Methyltransferases - metabolism
Neoplasms - genetics
Neoplasms - metabolism
Neoplasms - pathology
Transcriptome
development
differentiation
RNA
epitranscriptomics
METTL3
epithelial
m6A
cancer
epigenetics
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Summary:Dynamic modifications on RNA, frequently termed both, "RNA epigenetics" and "epitranscriptomics", offer one of the most exciting emerging areas of gene regulation and biomedicine. Similar to chromatin-based epigenetic mechanisms, writers, readers, and erasers regulate both the presence and interpretation of these modifications, thereby adding further nuance to the control of gene expression. In particular, the most abundant modification on mRNAs, N -methyladenosine (m A), catalyzed by methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) has been shown to play a critical role in self-renewing somatic epithelia, fine-tuning the balance between development, differentiation, and cancer, particularly in the case of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), which in aggregate, outnumber all other human cancers. Along with the development of targeted inhibitors of epitranscriptomic modulators (e.g., METTL3) now entering clinical trials, the field holds significant promise for treating these abundant cancers. Here, we present the most current summary of this work, while also highlighting the therapeutic potential of these discoveries.
ISSN:2073-4425