The je ne sais quoi of 5-methylcytosine in messenger RNA

Marco Guarnacci; Thomas Preiss

doi:10.1261/rna.079982.124

The je ne sais quoi of 5-methylcytosine in messenger RNA

RNA. 2024 Apr 16;30(5):560-569. doi: 10.1261/rna.079982.124.

Authors

Marco Guarnacci¹, Thomas Preiss^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation, Division of Genome Science and Cancer, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
² Shine-Dalgarno Centre for RNA Innovation, Division of Genome Science and Cancer, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australian Capital Territory, Australia thomas.preiss@anu.edu.au.
³ Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia.

Abstract

The potential presence of 5-methylcytosine as a sparse internal modification of mRNA was first raised in 1975, and a first map of the modification was also part of the epitranscriptomics "big bang" in 2012. Since then, the evidence for its presence in mRNA has firmed up, and initial insights have been gained into the molecular function and broader biological relevance of 5-methylcytosine when present in mRNA. Here, we summarize the status quo of the field, outline some of its current challenges, and suggest how to address them in future work.

Keywords: RNA modification; RNA processing; RNA stability; RNA-binding protein; methyltransferase; protein synthesis.

MeSH terms

5-Methylcytosine*
RNA*
RNA, Messenger / genetics

Substances

RNA, Messenger
5-Methylcytosine
RNA