The roles and mechanism of m6A RNA methylation regulators in cancer immunity

Lu Chen; Ying He; Jinyu Zhu; Shujuan Zhao; Shasha Qi; Xudong Chen; Hao Zhang; Ziheng Ni; Yuan Zhou; Gongxing Chen; Shuiping Liu; Tian Xie

doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114839

The roles and mechanism of m⁶A RNA methylation regulators in cancer immunity

Biomed Pharmacother. 2023 Jul:163:114839. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114839. Epub 2023 May 8.

Authors

Lu Chen¹, Ying He¹, Jinyu Zhu¹, Shujuan Zhao¹, Shasha Qi¹, Xudong Chen¹, Hao Zhang¹, Ziheng Ni¹, Yuan Zhou¹, Gongxing Chen², Shuiping Liu³, Tian Xie⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmacy and Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-Cancer Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China.
² School of Pharmacy and Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-Cancer Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China. Electronic address: 20070002@hznu.edu.cn.
³ School of Pharmacy and Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-Cancer Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China. Electronic address: lsp@hznu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Pharmacy and Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China; Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-Cancer Chinese Medicines, Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Collaborative Innovation Center of Traditional Chinese Medicines of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, China. Electronic address: xbs@hznu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37156113
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114839

Abstract

N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A), the most common internal modification in RNA, can be regulated by three types of regulators, including methyltransferases (writers), demethylases (erasers), and m⁶A binding proteins (readers). Recently, immunotherapy represented by immune checkpoint blocking has increasingly become an effective cancer treatment, and increasing shreds of evidence show that m⁶A RNA methylation affects cancer immunity in various cancers. Until now, there have been few reviews about the role and mechanism of m⁶A modification in cancer immunity. Here, we first summarized the regulation of m⁶A regulators on the expression of target messenger RNAs (mRNA) and their corresponding roles in inflammation, immunity response, immune process and immunotherapy in various cancer cells. Meanwhile, we described the roles and mechanisms of m⁶A RNA modification in tumor microenvironment and immune response by affecting the stability of non-coding RNA (ncRNA). Moreover, we also discussed the m⁶A regulators or its target RNAs which might be used as predictor of cancer diagnosis and prognosis, and shed light on the potentiality of m⁶A methylation regulators as therapeutic targets in cancer immunity.

Keywords: Cancer immunity; Diagnosis; Immunotherapy; Inflammation; M(6)A RNA methylation; Prognosis.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adenosine* / metabolism
Humans
Methylation
Methyltransferases / genetics
Methyltransferases / metabolism
Neoplasms* / pathology
RNA / metabolism
Tumor Microenvironment / genetics

Substances

Adenosine
RNA
Methyltransferases