The role of m6A RNA methylation in autoimmune diseases: Novel therapeutic opportunities

Yunan Shan; Wei Chen; Yanbin Li

doi:10.1016/j.gendis.2023.02.013

The role of m⁶A RNA methylation in autoimmune diseases: Novel therapeutic opportunities

Genes Dis. 2023 Mar 24;11(1):252-267. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2023.02.013. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Authors

Yunan Shan^{1

2}, Wei Chen³, Yanbin Li²

Affiliations

¹ The First Clinical Medical College, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong 250013, China.
² Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong Institute of Neuroimmunology, Shandong Key Laboratory of Rheumatic Disease and Translational Medicine, Jinan, Shandong 250013, China.
³ Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200233, China.

Abstract

N6-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modifications, as one of the most common forms of internal RNA chemical modifications in eukaryotic cells, have gained increasing attention in recent years. The m⁶A RNA modifications exert various crucial roles in various biological processes, such as embryonic development, neurogenesis, circadian rhythms, and tumorigenesis. Recent advances have highlighted that m⁶A RNA modification plays an important role in immune response, especially in the initiation and progression of autoimmune diseases. In this review, we summarized the regulatory mechanisms of m⁶A methylation and its biological functions in the immune system and mainly focused on recent progress in research on the potential role of m⁶A RNA methylation in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, thus providing possible biomarkers and potential targets for the prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Keywords: Adaptive immunity; Autoimmune diseases; Immune response; Innate immunity; m6A RNA methylation.

Publication types

Review