RNA m6A Methylation Regulators Subclassify Luminal Subtype in Breast Cancer
Lin Yang, Shuang‐Ling Wu, Chunhui Ma, Shuhui Song, Feng Jin, Yamei Niu, Wei‐Min Tong
Abstract
RNA N 6 -methyladenosine (m 6 A) methylation is the most prevalent epitranscriptomic modification in mammals, with a complex and fine-tuning regulatory system. Recent studies have illuminated the potential of m 6 A regulators in clinical applications including diagnosis, therapeutics, and prognosis. Based on six datasets of breast cancer in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and two additional proteomic datasets, we provide a comprehensive view of all the known m 6 A regulators in their gene expression, copy number variations (CNVs), DNA methylation status, and protein levels in breast tumors and their association with prognosis. Among four breast cancer subtypes, basal-like subtype exhibits distinct expression and genomic alteration in m 6 A regulators from other subtypes. Accordingly, four representative regulators (IGF2BP2, IGF2BP3, YTHDC2, and RBM15) are identified as basal-like subtype-featured genes. Notably, luminal A/B samples are subclassified into two clusters based on the methylation status of those four genes. In line with its similarity to basal-like subtype, cluster1 shows upregulation in immune-related genes and cell adhesion molecules, as well as an increased number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Besides, cluster1 has worse disease-free and progression-free survival, especially among patients diagnosed with stage II and luminal B subtype. Together, this study highlights the potential functions of m 6 A regulators in the occurrence and malignancy progression of breast cancer. Given the heterogeneity within luminal subtype and high risk of recurrence and metastasis in a portion of patients, the prognostic stratification of luminal A/B subtypes utilizing basal-featured m 6 A regulators may help to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and therapeutics of breast cancer.