Loss of m6A Methyltransferase METTL5 Promotes Cardiac Hypertrophy Through Epitranscriptomic Control of SUZ12 Expression

Yanchuang Han; Tailai Du; Siyao Guo; Lu Wang; Gang Dai; Tianxin Long; Ting Xu; Xiaodong Zhuang; Chen Liu; Shujuan Li; Dihua Zhang; Xinxue Liao; Yugang Dong; Kathy O Lui; Xu Tan; Shuibin Lin; Yili Chen; Zhan-Peng Huang

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.852775

Loss of m⁶A Methyltransferase METTL5 Promotes Cardiac Hypertrophy Through Epitranscriptomic Control of SUZ12 Expression

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Feb 28:9:852775. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.852775. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yanchuang Han^{1

2}, Tailai Du^{1

2}, Siyao Guo¹, Lu Wang¹, Gang Dai², Tianxin Long^{1

2}, Ting Xu^{1

2}, Xiaodong Zhuang^{1

2}, Chen Liu^{1

2}, Shujuan Li^{1

2}, Dihua Zhang³, Xinxue Liao^{1

2}, Yugang Dong^{1

2}, Kathy O Lui⁴, Xu Tan⁵, Shuibin Lin¹, Yili Chen^{1

2}, Zhan-Peng Huang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Center for Translational Medicine, Institute of Precision Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
² NHC Key Laboratory of Assisted Circulation, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Chemical Pathology, Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁵ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Center for Infectious Disease Research, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Enhancement of protein synthesis from mRNA translation is one of the key steps supporting cardiomyocyte hypertrophy during cardiac remodeling. The methyltransferase-like5 (METTL5), which catalyzes m⁶A modification of 18S rRNA at position A₁₈₃₂, has been shown to regulate the efficiency of mRNA translation during the differentiation of ES cells and the growth of cancer cells. It remains unknown whether and how METTL5 regulates cardiac hypertrophy. In this study, we have generated a mouse model, METTL5-cKO, with cardiac-specific depletion of METTL5 in vivo. Loss function of METTL5 promotes pressure overload-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and adverse remodeling. The regulatory function of METTL5 in hypertrophic growth of cardiomyocytes was further confirmed with both gain- and loss-of-function approaches in primary cardiomyocytes. Mechanically, METTL5 can modulate the mRNA translation of SUZ12, a core component of PRC2 complex, and further regulate the transcriptomic shift during cardiac hypertrophy. Altogether, our study may uncover an important translational regulator of cardiac hypertrophy through m6A modification.

Keywords: METTL5; RNA modification; SUZ12; cardiac hypertrophy; translational regulation.