A neural m6A/YTHDF pathway is required for learning and memory in Drosophila
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PROVIDER: PRJNA613463 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:The roles of epitranscriptomic modifications in mRNA regulation have recently received substantial attention, with appreciation growing for their phenotypically selective impacts within the animal. We adopted Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to study m6A, the most abundant internal modification of mRNA. Here, we report proteomic and functional analyses of fly m6A-binding proteins, confirming nuclear (YTHDC) and cytoplasmic (YTHDF) YTH domain proteins as the major m6A binders. Since all core m6A pathway mutants are viable, we assessed in vivo requirements of the m6A pathway in cognitive processes. Assays of short term memory revealed an age-dependent requirement of m6A writers working via YTHDF, but not YTHDC, comprising the first phenotypes assigned to Drosophila mutants of the cytoplasmic m6A reader. These factors promote memory via neural-autonomous activities, and are required in the mushroom body, the center for associative learning. To inform their basis, we mapped m6A from wild-type and mettl3 null mutant heads, allowing robust discrimination of Mettl3-dependent m6A sites. In contrast to mammalian m6A, which is predominant in 3' UTRs, Drosophila m6A is highly enriched in 5' UTRs and occurs in an adenosine-rich context. Genomic analyses demonstrate that Drosophila m6A does not directionally affect RNA stability, but is preferentially deposited on genes with low translational efficiency. However, functional tests indicate a role for m6A in translational activation, since we observe reduced nascent protein synthesis in mettl3-KO cells. Finally, we show that ectopic YTHDF can increase m6A target reporter output in an m6A-binding dependent manner, and that this activity is required for in vivo neural function of YTHDF in memory. Altogether, we provide the first tissue-specific m6A maps in this model organism and reveal selective behavioral and translational defects for m6A/YTHDF mutants.
2021-01-22 | GSE147230 | GEO
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in mRNA is key to eukaryotic gene regulation. Many m6A functions involve RNA-binding proteins that recognize m6A via a YT521-B Homology (YTH) domain. YTH domain proteins contain long intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) that may mediate phase separation and interaction with protein partners, but whose precise biochemical functions remain largely unknown. The Arabidopsis thaliana YTH domain proteins ECT2, ECT3 and ECT4 accelerate organogenesis through stimulation of cell division in organ primordia. Here, we use ECT2 to reveal molecular underpinnings of this function. We show that stimulation of leaf formation requires the long N-terminal IDR, and we identify two short IDR-elements required for ECT2-mediated organogenesis. Of these two, a 19-amino acid region containing a tyrosine-rich motif conserved in both plant and metazoan YTHDF proteins is necessary for binding to the major cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding proteins PAB2, PAB4 and PAB8. Remarkably, overexpression of PAB4 in leaf primordia partially rescues the delayed leaf formation in ect2 ect3 ect4 mutants, suggesting that the ECT2-PAB2/4/8 interaction on target mRNAs of organogenesis-related genes may overcome limiting PAB concentrations in primordial cells.
2023-11-28 | PXD045801 | Pride
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent internal RNA modification in mammalian messenger RNAs (mRNAs). While m6A has been shown to mark groups of mRNAs for coordinated degradation in various physiological processes, the relevance of m6A in affecting translation remains to be determined in intact biological systems in vivo. Here we show that, through its reader protein Ythdf1, m6A promotes a pulse of protein synthesis of target transcripts in response to neuronal stimuli in the adult mouse hippocampus, thereby facilitating learning and memory processes. Mice with genetic deletion of the Ythdf1 gene (Ythdf1-/-) exhibit learning and memory defects, as well as impaired hippocampal synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation (LTP). Selective re-expression of Ythdf1 in the hippocampus of adult Ythdf1-/- mice fully rescues the behavioral and synaptic defects, while hippocampus-specific knockdown of Ythdf1 or Mettl3, the catalytic component of m6A methyltransferase complex, recapitulates the hippocampal deficiency in adult mice. At the molecular level, transcriptome-wide mapping of m6A sites and RNA binding sites of Ythdf1 on hippocampal mRNAs using crosslinking immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (CLIP-seq) uncovered key neuronal genes, including those involved in synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation. Nascent protein labelling and tether reporter assays in cultured hippocampal neurons revealed that Ythdf1 is critical for initiating a pulse of protein synthesis of target transcripts in a neuronal-stimulus-dependent manner. Collectively, our results uncover a pathway of mRNA m6A methylation in learning and memory, which is mediated through Ythdf1 in response to stimuli.
2018-08-17 | GSE106607 | GEO
Project description:m6A-facilitated hippocampal learning and memory through Ythdf1
| PRJNA417392 | ENA
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant internal mRNA nucleotide modification in mammals, regulating critical aspects of cell physiology and differentiation. The YTHDF proteins are the primary readers of m6A modifications and exert physiological functions of m6A in the cytosol. Elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of YTHDF proteins is critical to understanding m6A biology. Here, we report a mechanism that protein post-translational modifications control the biological functions of the YTHDF proteins. We find that YTHDF1 and YTHDF3, but not YTHDF2, carry high levels of nutrient-sensing O-GlcNAc modifications. O-GlcNAc modification attenuates the translation promoting function of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 by blocking their interactions with proteins associated with mRNA translation. We further demonstrate that O-GlcNAc modifications on YTHDF1 and YTHDF2 regulate the assembly, stability, and disassembly of stress granule, facilitating rapid exchange of m6A-modified mRNAs in stress granules for recovery from stress. Therefore, our results discover an important regulatory pathway of YTHDF functions, adding an additional layer of complexity to the post-transcriptional regulation function of mRNA m6A.
2023-08-31 | GSE216570 | GEO
Project description:Loss-of-function mutations in the gene that encodes TYRO protein kinase-binding protein (TYROBP) cause Nasu-Hakola disease, a heritable disease resembling Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methylation of N6 methyl-adenosine (m6A) in mRNA plays essential roles in learning and memory. Aberrant m6A methylation has been detected in AD patients and animal models. In the present study, Tyrobp−/− mice showed learning and memory deficits in the Morris water maze, which worsened with age. Tyrobp−/− mice also showed elevated levels of total tau, Ser202/Thr205-phosphorylated tau and amyloid β in the hippocampus and cerebrocortex, which worsened with aging. The m6A methyltransferase components METTL3, METTL14, and WTAP were downregulated in Tyrobp−/− mice, while expression of demethylases that remove the m6A modification (e.g., FTO and ALKBH5) were unaltered. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing identified 498 m6A peaks that were upregulated in Tyrobp−/− mice, and 312 m6A peaks that were downregulated. Bioinformatic analysis suggested that most of these m6A peaks occur in sequences near stop codons and 3′-untranslated regions. These findings suggest an association between m6A RNA methylation and pathological TYROBP deficiency.
2022-03-17 | GSE179827 | GEO
Project description:N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant mRNA nucleotide modification and regulates critical aspects of cellular physiology and differentiation. m6A is thought to mediate its effects through a complex network of interactions between different m6A sites and three functionally distinct cytoplasmic YTHDF m6A-binding proteins (DF1, DF2, and DF3). In contrast to the prevailing model, we show that DF proteins bind the same m6A-modified mRNAs, rather than different mRNAs. Furthermore, we find that DF proteins do not induce translation in HeLa cells. Instead, the DF paralogs act redundantly to mediate mRNA degradation and cellular differentiation. The ability of DF proteins to regulate stability and differentiation becomes evident only when all three DF paralogs are simultaneously depleted. Our studies reveal a unified model of m6A function in which all m6A-modified mRNAs are subjected to the combined action of the YTHDF proteins in proportion to the number of m6A sites.
2020-06-02 | GSE134380 | GEO
Project description:The abundant mRNA modification N6-methyladenosine (m6A) regulates a variety of physiological processes through modulation of RNA metabolism. m6A is particularly enriched in the nervous system of several species and its dysregulation has been associated with neurodevelopmental defects as well as neural dysfunctions. In Drosophila, the loss of m6A alters fly behavior but the underlying mechanism and the role of m6A during nervous system development have remained elusive. Here we found that impairment of the m6A pathway leads to axonal overgrowth and misguidance at larval neuromuscular junctions as well as in the adult mushroom bodies. We identify the RNA binding protein Ythdf as the main m6A reader in the nervous system required for limiting axonal growth. Mechanistically, we show that Ythdf interacts directly with Fragile X mental retardation protein (Fmr1) to inhibit the translation of key transcripts involved in axonal growth regulation. Altogether, this study demonstrates that the m6A pathway controls development of the nervous system by modulating Fmr1 target selection.
2020-11-16 | GSE145342 | GEO
Project description:Epitranscriptomic modifications can impact behavior. Here, we used Drosophila melanogaster to study N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most abundant modification of mRNA. Proteomic and functional analyses confirm its nuclear (Ythdc1) and cytoplasmic (Ythdf) YTH domain proteins as major m6A binders. Assays of short term memory in m6A mutants reveal neural-autonomous requirements of m6A writers working via Ythdf, but not Ythdc1. Furthermore, m6A/Ythdf operate specifically via the mushroom body, the center for associative learning. We map m6A from wild-type and Mettl3 mutant heads, allowing robust discrimination of Mettl3-dependent m6A sites that are highly enriched in 5' UTRs. Genomic analyses indicate that Drosophila m6A is preferentially deposited on genes with low translational efficiency and that m6A does not affect RNA stability. Nevertheless, functional tests indicate a role for m6A/Ythdf in translational activation. Altogether, our molecular genetic analyses and tissue-specific m6A maps reveal selective behavioral and regulatory defects for the Drosophila Mettl3/Ythdf pathway.
| S-EPMC7935873 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mettl5 mediated 18S rRNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification controls neural development and the learning and memory function
| PRJNA641584 | ENA