M6A demethylase FTO promotes hepatocellular carcinoma tumorigenesis via mediating PKM2 demethylation.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Li J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6789218 | biostudies-literature | 2019
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
m6A demethylase FTO promotes hepatocellular carcinoma tumorigenesis via mediating PKM2 demethylation.
Li Jie J Zhu Lijun L Shi Yanhong Y Liu Jingnan J Lin Lin L Chen Xi X
American journal of translational research 20190915 9
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) acts as the most common mRNA modification in mammal cells. Fat Mass and Obesity-associated protein (FTO) is the firstly identified demethylase in the m6A modification. This research tries to discover the potential roles of FTO in the m6A modification in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). FTO level was found to be up-regulated in the HCC tissue and cells. The over-expression of FTO was correlated to the poor prognosis of HCC individuals. Knockdown of FTO suppressed the p ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundLong non-coding RNA (LncRNA) controls cell proliferation and plays a significant role in the initiation and progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification now is recognized as a master driver of RNA function to maintain homeostasis in cancer cells. However, how m6A regulates LncRNA function and its role in tumorigenesis of ESCC remain unclear.MethodsMultiple ESCC datasets were used to analyze gene expression in tumor tissues and normal tissues. Kaplan-Meier method and the ROC curve were conducted to evaluate the prognostic value and diagnostic value of LINC00022 in ESCC, respectively. Both gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments were employed to investigate the effects of LINC00022 on ESCC growth in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis, colorimetric m6A assay, RIP, MeRIP and co-IP was performed to explore the epigenetic mechanism of LINC00022 up-regulation in ESCC.ResultsHere we report that m6A demethylation of LncRNA LINC00022 by fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) promotes tumor growth of ESCC in vivo. Clinically, we revealed that LINC00022 was up-regulated in primary ESCC samples and was predictive of poor clinical outcome for ESCC patients. Mechanistically, LINC00022 directly binds to p21 protein and promotes its ubiquitination-mediated degradation, thereby facilitating cell-cycle progression and proliferation. Further, the elevated FTO in ESCC decreased m6A methylation of LINC00022 transcript, leading to the inhibition of LINC00022 decay via the m6A reader YTHDF2. Over-expression of FTO was shown to drive LINC00022-dependent cell proliferation and tumor growth of ESCC.ConclusionsThus, this study demonstrated m6A-mediated epigenetic modification of LncRNA contributes to the tumorigenesis in ESCC and LINC00022, specific target of m6A, serves as a potential biomarker for this malignancy.
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Project description:Polymorphism of the FTO gene encoding an N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) RNA demethylase was robustly associated with human obesity; however, the mechanism by which FTO affects metabolism, considering its emerging role in RNA modification, is still poorly understood. A new study published in Cell Research reports novel functions implicating FTO in the regulation of mRNA alternative splicing in the control of adipogenesis.
| S-EPMC4650590 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundLong non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) have been extensively studied to play essential roles in tumor progression. However, more in-depth studies are waiting to be solved on how lncRNAs regulate the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsDifferent expression levels of lncRNAs in HCC cells were compared by analysis of Gene Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases. The effects of lncRNA FTO Intronic Transcript 1 (FTO-IT1) on HCC cells were assessed by gain- and loss-of-function experiments. Colony formation assay, Edu assay, glucose uptake and lactic acid production assay were performed to evaluate the regulation of proliferation and glycolysis of HCC cells by FTO-IT1. The binding between protein interleukin enhancer binding factor 2/3 (ILF2/ILF3) and FTO-IT1 was determined by RNA pull-down, mass spectroscopy and RNA immunoprecipitation experiments. RNA stability assay, quantitative reverse transcription PCR and Western blot were employed to determine the regulatory mechanisms of FTO-IT1 on fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO). Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation assay was used to assessed the regulation of key enzymes of glycolysis by FTO. The role of FTO-IT1/FTO in vivo was confirmed via xenograft tumor model.ResultsLncRNA FTO-IT1, an intronic region transcript of FTO gene, was highly expressed in HCC and associated with poor prognosis of patients with HCC. FTO-IT1 was related to proliferation and glycolysis of HCC cells, and contributed to the malignant progression of HCC by promoting glycolysis. Mechanistically, FTO-IT1 induced stabilization of FTO mRNA by recruiting ILF2/ILF3 protein complex to 3'UTR of FTO mRNA. As a demethylase for N6-methyladenosine (m6A), FTO decreased m6A modification on mRNAs of glycolysis associated genes including GLUT1, PKM2, and c-Myc which alleviated the YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 2 (YTHDF2)-mediated mRNA degradation. Therefore, the upregulated expression of FTO-IT1 leaded to overexpression of GLUT1, PKM2, and c-Myc by which enhanced glycolysis of HCC. Meanwhile, it was found that c-Myc transcriptional regulated expression of FTO-IT1 by binding to its promoter area under hypo-glucose condition, forming a reciprocal loop between c-Myc and FTO-IT1.ConclusionsThis study identified an important role of the FTO-IT1/FTO axis mediated m6A modification of glycolytic genes contributed to glycolysis and tumorigenesis of HCC, and FTO-IT1 might be served as a new therapeutic target for HCC.
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Project description:Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest malignancy of the digestive system and is the seventh most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer continue to increase, and its 5-year survival rate remains the lowest among all cancers. N6-methyladenine (m6A) is the most abundant reversible RNA modification in various eukaryotic messenger and long noncoding RNAs and plays crucial roles in the occurrence and development of cancers. However, the role of m6A in pancreatic cancer remains unclear. The present study aimed to explore the role of m6A and its regulators in pancreatic cancer and assess its underlying molecular mechanism associated with pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Reduced expression of the m6A demethylase, fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO), was responsible for the high levels of m6A RNA modification in pancreatic cancer. Moreover, FTO demethylated the m6A modification of praja ring finger ubiquitin ligase 2 (PJA2), thereby reducing its mRNA decay, suppressing Wnt signaling, and ultimately restraining the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells. Altogether, this study describes new, potential molecular therapeutic targets for pancreatic cancer that could pave the way to improve patient outcome.
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Project description:BackgroundAs an important N6-methyladenosine (m6A) regulator, abnormal expression of methyltransferase-like protein 3 (METTL3) has been reported in certain human cancers. Although some data have shown that METTL3 plays an essential role in the progression of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma RCC (ccRCC), the detailed mechanism still remains largely undetermined.MethodsImmunohistochemistry (IHC) assay was used to examine the expression of METTL3 and its clinical implications in human ccRCC by using tissue-microarray (TMA). The cellular models based on ccRCC cell lines such as 786-O and ACHN, were established by operating METTL3 and HHLA2 via knockdown or overexpression, followed by in vitro cellular function studies and in vivo subcutaneous transplantation tumor model.ResultsWe found that METTL3 expression in ccRCC tissues was significantly higher compared with adjacent normal tissues. We also found the overall survival (OS) of the patients with low METTL3 expression was significantly better compared with the patients with high METTL3 expression. Furthermore, HHLA2highMETTL3high could serve as a better prognostic predictor for ccRCC patients. Depletion of METTL3 could significantly inhibit the cell viability, migration, and invasion abilities in ccRCC cell lines. Cellular studies further revealed that METTL3 could regulate HHLA2 expression via m6A modification of HHLA2 mRNA. In vitro studies revealed that HHLA2 overexpression could reverse the inhibition of cellular functions mediated by METTL3 depletion. The subcutaneous transplantation tumor model confirmed that HHLA2 overexpression could reverse the inhibition of tumor growth mediated by METTL3 depletion.ConclusionOur study indicated that METTL3 served as an important prognostic predictor for ccRCC patients, and we demonstrated a novel regulatory mechanism of HHLA2 by mRNA epigenetic modification via METTL3. Moreover, we found that the METTL3/HHLA2 axis could promote tumorigenesis of ccRCC. Collectively, our current findings provided new insights into the therapeutic strategy against this malignancy targeting METTL3.
| S-EPMC9258210 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundEpitranscriptomics studies have contributed greatly to the development of research on human cancers. In recent years, N6-methyladenosine (m6A), an RNA modification on the N-6 position of adenosine, has been found to play a potential role in epigenetic regulation. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the regulation of cancer progression properties by m6A.ResultsWe found that m6A demethylase fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) was highly expressed in esophageal cancer (EC) stem-like cells, and that its level was also substantially increased in EC tissues, which was closely correlated with a poor prognosis in EC patients. FTO knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion, stemness, and tumorigenicity of EC cells, whereas FTO overexpression promoted these characteristics. Furthermore, integrated transcriptome and meRIP-seq analyses revealed that HSD17B11 may be a target gene regulated by FTO. Moreover, FTO promoted the formation of lipid droplets in EC cells by enhancing HSD17B11 expression. Furthermore, depleting YTHDF1 increased the protein level of HSD17B11.ConclusionsThese data indicate that FTO may rely on the reading protein YTHDF1 to affect the translation pathway of the HSD17B11 gene to regulate the formation of lipid droplets in EC cells, thereby promoting the development of EC. The understanding of the role of epitranscriptomics in the development of EC will lay a theoretical foundation for seeking new anticancer therapies.
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Project description:BackgroundEmerging evidence suggest the critical role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in disease development especially in various cancers. However, the oncogenic role of circRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still largely unknown.MethodsRNA sequencing was performed to identify significantly upregulated circRNAs in paired HCC tissues and non-tumor tissues. CCK-8 assay, colony formation, transwell, and xenograft mouse models were used to investigate the role of circRNAs in HCC proliferation and metastasis. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to silence gene expression. RNA immunoprecipitation, biotin pull-down, RNA pull-down, luciferase reporter assay and western blot were used to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.ResultsHsa_circ_0095868, derived from exon 5 of the MDK gene (named circMDK), was identified as a new oncogenic circRNA that was significantly upregulated in HCC. The upregulation of circMDK was associated with the modification of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and poor survival in HCC patients. Mechanistically, circMDK sponged miR-346 and miR-874-3p to upregulate ATG16L1 (Autophagy Related 16 Like 1), resulting to the activation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway to promote cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Poly (β-amino esters) (PAEs) were synthesized to assist the delivery of circMDK siRNA (PAE-siRNA), which effectively inhibited tumor progression without obvious adverse effects in four liver tumor models including subcutaneous, metastatic, orthotopic and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models.ConclusionsCircMDK could serve as a potential tumor biomarker that promotes the progression of HCC via the miR-346/874-3p-ATG16L1 axis. The PAE-based delivery of siRNA improved the stability and efficiency of siRNA targeting circMDK. The PAE-siRNA nanoparticles effectively inhibited HCC proliferation and metastasis in vivo. Our current findings offer a promising nanotherapeutic strategy for the treatment of HCC.
| S-EPMC9074191 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesIncreasing evidence have demonstrated the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) plays critical roles in osteoarthritis (OA) progression, but the role of m6A in OA has not been completely illuminated. Herein, we investigated the function and underlying mechanism of m6A demethylase fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) in OA progression.Materials and methodsThe FTO expression was detected in mice OA cartilage tissues and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated chondrocytes. Gain-of-function assays was used to evaluate the role of FTO in OA cartilage injury in vitro and in vivo. The miRNA-sequencing, RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP), luciferase reporter assay, and in vitro pri-miRNA processing assays were conducted to confirm that FTO modulated the pri-miR-3591 process in an m6A-dependent manner and then the binding sites of miR-3591-5p with PRKAA2.ResultsFTO was outstandingly downregulated in LPS-stimulated chondrocytes and OA cartilage tissues. FTO overexpression enhanced the proliferation, suppressed apoptosis, and decreased degradation of extracellular matrix in LPS-induced chondrocytes, whereas FTO knockdown contributed to the opposite effects. In vivo animal experiments showed that FTO overexpression markedly alleviated OA mice cartilage injury. Mechanically, FTO-mediated m6A demethylation of pri-miR-3591 leaded to a maturation block of miR-3591-5p, which relieved the inhibitory effect of miR-3591-5p on PRKAA2 and then promoted the increase of PRKAA2, thereby alleviating OA cartilage damage.ConclusionsOur results attested that FTO alleviated the OA cartilage damage by mediating FTO/miR-3591-5p/PRKAA2 axis, which provided fresh insights into the therapeutic strategies for OA.
| S-EPMC10067311 | biostudies-literature