m6A: An Emerging Role in Programmed Cell Death

Fajuan Tang; Lin Chen; Hu Gao; Dongqiong Xiao; Xihong Li

doi:10.3389/fcell.2022.817112

m⁶A: An Emerging Role in Programmed Cell Death

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Jan 24:10:817112. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.817112. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Fajuan Tang^{1

2}, Lin Chen^{1

2}, Hu Gao^{1

2}, Dongqiong Xiao^{1

2}, Xihong Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Programmed cell death is an active extinction process, including autophagy, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis. m⁶A is a reversible RNA modification which undergoes methylation under the action of methylases (writers), and is demethylated under the action of demethylases (erasers). The RNA base site at which m⁶A is modified is recognized by specialized enzymes (readers) which regulate downstream RNA translation, decay, and stability. m⁶A affects many aspects of mRNA metabolism, and also plays an important role in promoting the maturation of miRNA, the translation and degradation of circRNA, and the stability of lncRNA. The regulatory factors including writers, erasers and readers promote or inhibit programmed cell death via up-regulating or down-regulating downstream targets in a m⁶A-dependent manner to participate in the process of disease. In this review, we summarize the functions of m⁶A with particular reference to its role in programmed cell death.

Keywords: apoptosis; autophagy; ferroptosis; m6A; necroptosis; pyroptosis.

Publication types

Review