The emerging role of m6A modification of non-coding RNA in gastrointestinal cancers: a comprehensive review

Meiqi Wang; Zhuo Liu; Xuedong Fang; Xianling Cong; Yue Hu

doi:10.3389/fcell.2023.1264552

The emerging role of m⁶A modification of non-coding RNA in gastrointestinal cancers: a comprehensive review

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 Oct 30:11:1264552. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1264552. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Meiqi Wang¹, Zhuo Liu¹, Xuedong Fang¹, Xianling Cong^{2

3}, Yue Hu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastrointestinal Colorectal and Anal Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
² Department of Biobank, the China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
³ Department of Dermatology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is a series of malignant tumors with a high incidence globally. Although approaches for tumor diagnosis and therapy have advanced substantially, the mechanisms underlying the occurrence and progression of GI cancer are still unclear. Increasing evidence supports an important role for N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification in many biological processes, including cancer-related processes via splicing, export, degradation, and translation of mRNAs. Under distinct cancer contexts, m⁶A regulators have different expression patterns and can regulate or be regulated by mRNAs and non-coding RNAs, especially long non-coding RNAs. The roles of m⁶A in cancer development have attracted increasing attention in epigenetics research. In this review, we synthesize progress in our understanding of m⁶A and its roles in GI cancer, especially esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers. Furthermore, we clarify the mechanism by which m⁶A contributes to GI cancer, providing a basis for the development of diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic targets.

Keywords: colorectal cancer; esophageal cancer; gastric cancer; lncRNA; m6A; mRNA.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Science and Technology Development Project of Jilin Province (Grant No. 20210101337JC,20220402071GH).