The methylation of adenosine in the N6 position (m6A) is a widely used modification of eukaryotic mRNAs. Its importance for the regulation of mRNA translation was put forward recently, essentially due to the ability of methylated mRNA to be translated in conditions of inhibited cap-dependent translation initiation, e.g., under stress. However, the peculiarities of translation initiation on m6A-modified mRNAs are not fully known. In this study, we used toeprinting and translation in a cell-free system to confirm that m6A-modified mRNAs can be translated in conditions of suppressed cap-dependent translation. We show for the first time that m6A-modified mRNAs display not only decreased elongation, but also a lower efficiency of translation initiation. Additionally, we report relative resistance of m6A-mRNA translation initiation in the absence of ATP and inhibited eIF4A activity. Our novel findings indicate that the scanning of m6A-modified leader sequences is performed by a noncanonical mechanism.
Keywords: 48S complex assembly; m6A-modified RNA; toeprinting; translation initiation.