GPX8 deficiency-induced oxidative stress reprogrammed m6A epitranscriptome of oral cancer cells
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ABSTRACT: Glutathione peroxidase 8 (GPX8) is a key regulator of redox homeostasis. Whether its antioxidant activity participates in the regulation of m6A modification is a crucial issue, which has important application value in cancer treatment. MeRIP-seq was used to explore the characteristics of transcriptome-wide m6A modification in GPX8-deficient oral cancer cells in this study. Oxidative stress caused by lack of GPX8 resulted in 1,279 hyper- and 2,287 hypo-methylated m6A peaks and 2,036 differentially expressed genes in GPX8-KO cells. Twenty-eight differentially expressed genes were related to the cell response to oxidative stress, and half of them changed their m6A modification. In GPX8-KO cells, m6A regulators IGF2BP2 and IGF2BP3 were upregulated, while FTO, RBM15, VIRMA, ZC3H13 and YTHDC2 were downregulated. After H2O2 treatment, the expression changes of RBM15, IGF2BP2 and IGF2BP3 were further enhanced. These data indicated that GPX8-mediated redox homeostasis regulated m6A modification, thereby affecting the expression and function of downstream genes. This study highlights the possible significance of GPX8 and the corresponding m6A regulatory or regulated genes as novel targets for antioxidant intervention in cancer therapy
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant internal RNA modification in mRNA molecules and plays important roles in multiple important biological processes including cancer development. KIAA1429/VIRMA is an important component of m6A methyltransferase complex to facilitate depositing m6A modification in RNA molecules. Here we found that KIAA1429/VIRMA was overexpressed in breast cancer patients among other m6A related enzymes. Breast cancer patients with higher KIAA1429 expression have worse survival compared with control group. In addition, KIAA1429/VIRMA protein mislocated in cytosol in breast cancer tissues and cell lines. KIAA1429/VIRMA depletion reduced breast cancer cell proliferation and migration. Mechanism studies showed that cytosolic expressed KIAA1429/VIRMA interacted with m6A reader protein IGF2BP3 and stabilized expression of m6A-modified HAS2 expression. HAS2 is downstream of KIAA1429/VIRMA to mediate breast cancer cell proliferation and migration and has positive correlation with KIAA1429/VIRMA expression in cancer patients.
Project description:N6-methyadenosine (m6A) is enriched in 3`UTR (3` untranslated region) and near stop codon of mature polyadenylated mRNAs in mammalian systems and has regulatory roles in eukaryotic mRNA transcriptome switch. Significantly, the mechanism for this modification preference remains unknown, however. Herein we report a characterization of the full m6A methyltransferase complex in HeLa cells identifying METTL3/METTL14/WTAP/VIRMA/HAKAI/ZC3H13 as the key components, and we show that VIRMA mediates preferential mRNA methylation in 3`UTR and near stop codon. Biochemical studies reveal that VIRMA recruits the catalytic core components METTL3/METTL14/WTAP to guide region-selective methylations. Around 60% of VIRMA mRNA immunoprecipitation targets manifest strong m6A enrichment in 3`UTR. Depletions of VIRMA and METTL3 induce 3`UTR lengthening of several hundred mRNAs with over 50% targets in common. VIRMA associates with polyadenylation cleavage factors CPSF5 and CPSF6 in an RNA-dependent manner. Depletion of CPSF5 leads to significant shortening of 3`UTR of over 2,800 mRNAs, 84% of which are modified with m6A. Together our studies provide insights into m6A deposition specificity in 3`UTR and its correlation with alternative polyadenylation.
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is the most abundant RNA modification in both host mRNA and viral RNA transcripts. Dynamic regulation and recognition of m6A modification widely participate in post-transcriptional regulation of many biological processes. This project aims to define the regulation role of IGF2BP3, a m6A recognition protein, in viral infection, especially in RNA viral infection. In this study, the transcriptomes of Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-infected WT/Igf2bp3-KO RAW264.7 cells and mouse peritoneal macrophages (PMs) were analyzed, suggesting the role of IGF2BP3 in the host's innate immune responses during viral infection and enhancement.
Project description:XIST is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that mediates transcriptional silencing of X chromosome genes. Here we show that XIST is highly methylated with at least 78 N6-methyladenosine (m6A) residues, a reversible base modification whose function in lncRNAs is unknown. We show that m6A formation in XIST, as well as cellular mRNAs, is mediated by RBM15 and its paralog RBM15B, which bind the m6A-methylation complex and recruit it to specific sites in RNA. This results in methylation of adenosines in adjacent m6A consensus motifs. Furthermore, knockdown of RBM15 and RBM15B, or knockdown of the m6A methyltransferase METTL3 impairs XIST-mediated gene silencing. A systematic comparison of m6A-binding proteins shows that YTHDC1 preferentially recognizes m6A in XIST and is required for XIST function. Additionally, artificial tethering of YTHDC1 to XIST rescues XIST-mediated silencing upon loss of m6A. These data reveal a pathway of m6A formation and recognition required for XIST-mediated transcriptional repression. Three to four biological HEK293T replicates were used to perform iCLIP of endogenous YTH proteins, RBM15, and RBM15B. Crosslinking induced truncations were identified using CIMS-CITS pipeline.
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification plays crucial roles in tissue development and homeostasis. However, the mechanisms underlying cellular adaptation of m6A modification and their impact on protein synthesis machinery remain unclear. VIRMA, the largest and evolutionarily conserved core of the m6A methyltransferase complex, is highly expressed in the embryonic brain and various cancers. Here, we demonstrate that VIRMA-mediated m6A modification is essential for active ribosome biogenesis. VIRMA depletion destabilizes the entire writer complex and reduces m6A levels, leading to decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis of neural progenitor/stem cells (NPCs), ultimately causing severe forebrain developmental defects. Mechanistically, VIRMA depletion impairs ribosome biogenesis by inhibiting mRNA decay, triggering a p53-dependent stress response and compromising global protein synthesis. Importantly, these findings extend to human cancer cells, suggesting a potential conservation of this mechanism. Overall, our study reveals the critical role of m6A in adapting protein synthesis machinery during brain development and potentially in cancer.
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification plays crucial roles in tissue development and homeostasis. However, the mechanisms underlying cellular adaptation of m6A modification and their impact on protein synthesis machinery remain unclear. VIRMA, the largest and evolutionarily conserved core of the m6A methyltransferase complex, is highly expressed in the embryonic brain and various cancers. Here, we demonstrate that VIRMA-mediated m6A modification is essential for active ribosome biogenesis. VIRMA depletion destabilizes the entire writer complex and reduces m6A levels, leading to decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis of neural progenitor/stem cells (NPCs), ultimately causing severe forebrain developmental defects. Mechanistically, VIRMA depletion impairs ribosome biogenesis by inhibiting mRNA decay, triggering a p53-dependent stress response and compromising global protein synthesis. Importantly, these findings extend to human cancer cells, suggesting a potential conservation of this mechanism. Overall, our study reveals the critical role of m6A in adapting protein synthesis machinery during brain development and potentially in cancer.
Project description:Purpose: To comprehensively profile the landscape of the mRNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification in human colorectal cancer (CRC). Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) was explored to compare the difference in mRNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation between CRC tissues and adjacent normal control (NC) tissue. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to transcribe differentially expressed mRNAs. Conjoint analysis of MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq data was conducted to predict RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Results: MeRIP-seq identified 1110 differentially m6A methylated sites (DMMSs) and 980 differentially m6A methylated genes (DMMGs) in CRC, with 50.13% of all modified genes showing unique m6A-modified peaks in CRC. RNA-seq showed 915 upregulated genes and 1463 downregulated genes in CRC. QRT-PCR verified the RNA-seq results by detecting the expression of some mRNAs. Conjoint analysis of MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq identified 400 differentially m6A methylated and expressed genes (DEGs), and pathway analysis detected that DMMGs and DEGs were closely related to cancer. After analyzing these DMMGs and DEGs through the GEPIA database, we found that the expression of B3GNT6, DKC1, SRPK1 and RIMKLB were associated with prognosis, and the expression of B3GNT6 and RIMKLB were associated with clinical stage. 17 RBPs were identified based on the DMMGs and DEGs, among which FXR1, FXR2, FMR1, IGF2BP2, IGF2BP3 and SRSF1 were obviously highly expressed in CRC, and FMR1, IGF2BP2 and IGF2BP3 were closely related to methylation, and might be involved in the development of CRC. Conclusions: This study comprehensively profiled m6A modification of mRNAs in CRC, which revealed possible mechanisms of m6A-mediated gene expression regulation.
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is an abundant modification on mRNA, and plays critical functions in various cellular processes, including cell fate determination and lineage transition. However, the landscape and dynamics of m6A modification in haematopoietic system remain unknown. Here, we delineate a comprehensive m6A landscape across haematopoietic hierarchy and uncover that IGF2BP2 is required for preserving haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) function. Our data reveal a marked cell-type- and haematopoietic-lineage-specific m6A landscape. Intriguingly, most m6A modifications arise in the early stat of haematopoiesis, and are critical in defining cellular states of HSCs. Moreover, m6A modification is the major factor in determining mRNA abundance in HSCs. Importantly, we find that higher expression of m6A reader IGF2BP2 is critical in controlling gene expression states and the functional maintenance of HSCs. IGF2BP2 deficiency induces apoptosis and quiescence loss, and substantially impairs the reconstitution capacity of HSCs. In addition, deletion of IGF2BP2 increases the mitochondrial activity of HSCs. Mechanistically, IGF2BP2 stabilizes Bmi1 mRNA in an m6A-dependent manner, which represses the expression of mitochondria-related genes. Collectively, our results present a fascinating portrait of m6A modification during haematopoiesis, and uncover a key role of IGF2BP2 in maintaining HSCs function by regulating Bmi1 stability and restraining mitochondrial activity.
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is an abundant modification in eukaryotic mRNA, regulating mRNA dynamics by influencing mRNA stability, splicing, export and translation. Recent studies discovered m6A methyltransferases (?writer?), demethylases (?eraser?) and binding proteins (?reader?), which modulate m6A methylation. However, the precise m6A regulating machinery still remains incompletely understood. Here we demonstrate that ZC3H13, a zinc finger protein, plays an essential role in modulating m6A methylation on polyadenylated RNA in the nucleus. ZC3H13 exists in an evolutionary-conserved macromolecular complex containing WTAP, Virilizer and Hakai. We confirm the interaction among those proteins and demonstrate that knockdown of Zc3h13 in mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) significantly decreases global m6A level on mRNA, mainly at 3? untranslated regions (3? UTR). Interestingly, fractionation assays show that upon Zc3h13 knockdown a great majority of WTAP, Virilizer and Hakai translocate to the cytoplasm and the nuclear presence of the methyltransferase Mettl3 and Mettl14 also decrease significantly. In contrast, knockdown of WTAP, Virilizer or Hakai does not change the nuclear localization of Zc3h13. This suggests that Zc3h13 is required for nuclear localization of the Zc3h13-WTAP-Virilizer-Hakai complex, which is important for RNA m6A methylation. Finally, Zc3h13 depletion, as does WTAP, Virilizer or Hakai, impairs self-renewal and triggers mESC differentiation. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that Zc3h13 plays an essential role in anchoring WTAP, Virilizer and Hakai in the nucleus to facilitate m6A methylation and to regulate mESC self-renewal.
Project description:As the most common post-transcriptional RNA modification, m6A methylation extensively regulates the structure and function of RNA. The dynamic and reversible modification of m6A is coordinated by m6A writers and erasers. m6A reader proteins recognize m6A modification on RNA, mediating different downstream biological functions. mRNA m6A modification and its corresponding regulators play an important role in cancers, but its characteristics in the precancerous stage are still unclear. In this study, we used oral precancerous DOK cells as a model to explore the characteristics of transcriptome-wide m6A modification and major m6A regulator expression in the precancerous stage compared with normal oral epithelial cell HOEC and oral cancer cell SCC-9 through MeRIP-seq and RT-PCR. Compared with HOEC cells, we found 1180 hyper-methylated and 1606 hypo-methylated m6A peaks and 354 differentially expressed mRNAs with differential m6A peaks in DOK cells. Although the change of m6A modification in DOK cells was less than that in SCC-9 cells, mRNAs with differential m6A in both cell lines were enriched into many identical GO terms and KEGG pathways. Among the 20 known m6A regulatory genes, FTO, ALKBH5, METTL3 and VIRMA were slightly upregulated or downregulated in DOK cells, but the expression of 10 genes such as METTL14/16, FTO and IGF2BP2/3 changed significantly in SCC-9 cells. Our data suggest that precancerous cells showed, to some extent, changes of m6A modification. Identifying some key m6A targets and corresponding regulators in precancerous stage may provide potential intervention targets for the prevention of cancer development through epigenetic modification in the future.