The role of m5C methyltransferases in cardiovascular diseases

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023 Jul 5:10:1225014. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1225014. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

The global leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although advances in prevention and treatment have been made, the role of RNA epigenetics in CVD is not fully understood. Studies have found that RNA modifications regulate gene expression in mammalian cells, and m5C (5-methylcytosine) is a recently discovered RNA modification that plays a role in gene regulation. As a result of these developments, there has been renewed interest in elucidating the nature and function of RNA "epitranscriptomic" modifications. Recent studies on m5C RNA methylomes, their functions, and the proteins that initiate, translate and manipulate this modification are discussed in this review. This review improves the understanding of m5C modifications and their properties, functions, and implications in cardiac pathologies, including cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and atherosclerosis.

Keywords: RNA modification; atherosclerosis; cardiovascular diseases; m5C methyltransferases; mitochondrial dysfunction.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81100106, 81670424), Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (2021JJ30602), International Joint Laboratory for Arteriosclerotic Disease Research of Hunan Province (2018 WK4031), Outstanding Youth Project Supported by Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (19B478), Scientific Research Foundation for Doctor of University of South China (2012XQD37, 2017XQD04), and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Scholars of University of South China (2017XQD29).