The Emerging Role of N6-Methyladenosine RNA Methylation as Regulators in Cancer Therapy and Drug Resistance
Zhaolin Chen, Ying Hu, Le Jin, Fan Yang, Haiwen Ding, Lei Zhang, Lili Li, Tingting Pan
Abstract
N6-methyladenosine (m 6 A) RNA methylation has been considered the most prevalent, abundant, and conserved internal transcriptional modification throughout the eukaryotic mRNAs. Typically, m 6 A RNA methylation is catalyzed by the RNA methyltransferases (writers), is removed by its demethylases (erasers), and interacts with m 6 A-binding proteins (readers). Accumulating evidence shows that abnormal changes in the m 6 A levels of these regulators are increasingly associated with human tumorigenesis and drug resistance. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying m 6 A RNA methylation in tumor occurrence and development have not been comprehensively clarified. We reviewed the recent findings on biological regulation of m 6 A RNA methylation and summarized its potential therapeutic strategies in various human cancers.