scholarly journals N6-methyladenosine methyltransferases: functions, regulation, and clinical potential

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Huang ◽  
Tian-Qi Chen ◽  
Ke Fang ◽  
Zhan-Cheng Zeng ◽  
Hua Ye ◽  
...  

AbstractN6-methyladenosine (m6A) has emerged as an abundant modification throughout the transcriptome with widespread functions in protein-coding and noncoding RNAs. It affects the fates of modified RNAs, including their stability, splicing, and/or translation, and thus plays important roles in posttranscriptional regulation. To date, m6A methyltransferases have been reported to execute m6A deposition on distinct RNAs by their own or forming different complexes with additional partner proteins. In this review, we summarize the function of these m6A methyltransferases or complexes in regulating the key genes and pathways of cancer biology. We also highlight the progress in the use of m6A methyltransferases in mediating therapy resistance, including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy. Finally, we discuss the current approaches and clinical potential of m6A methyltransferase-targeting strategies.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katey S. S. Enfield ◽  
Larissa A. Pikor ◽  
Victor D. Martinez ◽  
Wan L. Lam

Lung cancer biology has traditionally focused on genomic and epigenomic deregulation of protein-coding genes to identify oncogenes and tumor suppressors diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Another important layer of cancer biology has emerged in the form of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), which are major regulators of key cellular processes such as proliferation, RNA splicing, gene regulation, and apoptosis. In the past decade, microRNAs (miRNAs) have moved to the forefront of ncRNA cancer research, while the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is emerging. Here we review the mechanisms by which miRNAs and lncRNAs are deregulated in lung cancer, the technologies that can be applied to detect such alterations, and the clinical potential of these RNA species. An improved comprehension of lung cancer biology will come through the understanding of the interplay between deregulation of non-coding RNAs, the protein-coding genes they regulate, and how these interactions influence cellular networks and signalling pathways.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 621-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youhuang Bai ◽  
Xiaozhuan Dai ◽  
Tiantian Ye ◽  
Peijing Zhang ◽  
Xu Yan ◽  
...  

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are endogenous noncoding RNAs, arbitrarily longer than 200 nucleotides, that play critical roles in diverse biological processes. LncRNAs exist in different genomes ranging from animals to plants. Objective: PlncRNADB is a searchable database of lncRNA sequences and annotation in plants. Methods: We built a pipeline for lncRNA prediction in plants, providing a convenient utility for users to quickly distinguish potential noncoding RNAs from protein-coding transcripts. Results: More than five thousand lncRNAs are collected from four plant species (Arabidopsis thaliana, Arabidopsis lyrata, Populus trichocarpa and Zea mays) in PlncRNADB. Moreover, our database provides the relationship between lncRNAs and various RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), which can be displayed through a user-friendly web interface. Conclusion: PlncRNADB can serve as a reference database to investigate the lncRNAs and their interaction with RNA-binding proteins in plants. The PlncRNADB is freely available at http://bis.zju.edu.cn/PlncRNADB/.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John W Davey ◽  
Carolina M C Catta-Preta ◽  
Sally James ◽  
Sarah Forrester ◽  
Maria Cristina M Motta ◽  
...  

Abstract Angomonas deanei is an endosymbiont-bearing trypanosomatid with several highly fragmented genome assemblies and unknown chromosome number. We present an assembly of the A. deanei nuclear genome based on Oxford Nanopore sequence that resolves into 29 complete or close-to-complete chromosomes. The assembly has several previously unknown special features; it has a supernumerary chromosome, a chromosome with a 340-kb inversion, and there is a translocation between two chromosomes. We also present an updated annotation of the chromosomal genome with 10,365 protein-coding genes, 59 transfer RNAs, 26 ribosomal RNAs, and 62 noncoding RNAs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunxiang Zhang

Genomic evidence reveals that gene expression in humans is precisely controlled in cellular, tissue-type, temporal, and condition-specific manners. Completely understanding the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression is therefore one of the most important issues in genomic medicine. Surprisingly, recent analyses of the human and animal genomes have demonstrated that the majority of RNA transcripts are relatively small, noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs), rather than large, protein coding message RNAs (mRNAs). Moreover, these sncRNAs may represent a novel important layer of regulation for gene expression. The most important breakthrough in this new area is the discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs comprise a novel class of endogenous, small, noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression via degradation or translational inhibition of their target mRNAs. As a group, miRNAs may directly regulate ∼30% of the genes in the human genome. In keeping with the nomenclature of RNomics, which is to study sncRNAs on the genomic scale, “microRNomics” is coined here to describe a novel subdiscipline of genomics that studies the identification, expression, biogenesis, structure, regulation of expression, targets, and biological functions of miRNAs on the genomic scale. A growing body of exciting evidence suggests that miRNAs are important regulators of cell differentiation, proliferation/growth, mobility, and apoptosis. These miRNAs therefore play important roles in development and physiology. Consequently, dysregulation of miRNA function may lead to human diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, immune dysfunction, and metabolic disorders. microRNomics may be a newly emerging approach for human disease biology.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 533-543
Author(s):  
R M Mulligan ◽  
P Leon ◽  
V Walbot

Lysed maize mitochondria synthesize RNA in the presence of radioactive nucleoside triphosphates, and this assay was utilized to compare the rates of transcription of seven genes. The rates of incorporation varied over a 14-fold range, with the following rank order: 18S rRNA greater than 26S rRNA greater than atp1 greater than atp6 greater than atp9 greater than cob greater than cox3. The products of run-on transcription hybridized specifically to known transcribed regions and selectively to the antisense DNA strand; thus, the isolated run-on transcription system appears to be an accurate representation of endogenous transcription. Although there were small differences in gene copy abundance, these differences cannot account for the differences in apparent transcription rates; we conclude that promoter strength is the main determinant. Among the protein coding genes, incorporation was greatest for atp1. The most active transcription initiation site of this gene was characterized by hybridization with in vitro-capped RNA and by primer extension analyses. The DNA sequences at this and other transcription initiation sites that we have previously mapped were analyzed with respect to the apparent promoter strengths. We propose that two short sequence elements just upstream of initiation sites form at least a portion of the sequence requirements for a maize mitochondrial promoter. In addition to modulation at the level of transcription, steady-state abundance of protein-coding mRNAs varied over a 20-fold range and did not correlate with transcriptional activity. These observations suggest that posttranscriptional processes are important in the modulation of mRNA abundance.


MicroRNA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Younes El Founini ◽  
Imane Chaoui ◽  
Hind Dehbi ◽  
Mohammed El Mzibri ◽  
Roger Abounader ◽  
...  

: Noncoding RNAs have emerged as key regulators of the genome upon gene expression profiling and genome-wide sequencing. Among these noncoding RNAs, microRNAs are short noncoding RNAs that regulate a plethora of functions, biological processes and human diseases by targeting the messenger RNA stability through 3’UTR binding, leading to either mRNA cleavage or translation repression, depending on microRNA-mRNA complementarity degree. Additionally, strong evidence has suggested that dysregulation of miRNAs contribute to the etiology and progression of human cancers, such as lung cancer, the most common and deadliest cancer worldwide. Indeed, by acting as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, microRNAs control all aspects of lung cancer malignancy, including cell proliferation, survival, migration, invasion, angiogenesis, cancer stem cells, immune-surveillance escape, and therapy resistance; and their expressions are often associated with clinical parameters. Moreover, several deregulated microRNAs in lung cancer are carried by exosomes, microvesicles and secreted in body fluids, mainly the circulation where they conserve their stable forms. Subsequently, seminal efforts have been focused on extracellular microRNAs levels as noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in lung cancer. In this review, focusing on recent literature, we summarize the deregulation, mechanisms of action, functions and highlight clinical applications of miRNAs for better management and design of future lung cancer targeted therapies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej T. Wierzbicki ◽  
Todd Blevins ◽  
Szymon Swiezewski

Plants have an extraordinary diversity of transcription machineries, including five nuclear DNA-dependent RNA polymerases. Four of these enzymes are dedicated to the production of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are ribonucleic acids with functions independent of their protein-coding potential. lncRNAs display a broad range of lengths and structures, but they are distinct from the small RNA guides of RNA interference (RNAi) pathways. lncRNAs frequently serve as structural, catalytic, or regulatory molecules for gene expression. They can affect all elements of genes, including promoters, untranslated regions, exons, introns, and terminators, controlling gene expression at various levels, including modifying chromatin accessibility, transcription, splicing, and translation. Certain lncRNAs protect genome integrity, while others respond to environmental cues like temperature, drought, nutrients, and pathogens. In this review, we explain the challenge of defining lncRNAs, introduce the machineries responsible for their production, and organize this knowledge by viewing the functions of lncRNAs throughout the structure of a typical plant gene. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Plant Biology, Volume 72 is May 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter T. Harrison ◽  
Paul H. Huang

Drug resistance remains one of the greatest challenges facing precision oncology today. Despite the vast array of resistance mechanisms that cancer cells employ to subvert the effects of targeted therapy, a deep understanding of cancer signalling networks has led to the development of novel strategies to tackle resistance both in the first-line and salvage therapy settings. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the major classes of resistance mechanisms to targeted therapy, including signalling reprogramming and tumour evolution; our discussion also focuses on the use of different forms of polytherapies (such as inhibitor combinations, multi-target kinase inhibitors and HSP90 inhibitors) as a means of combating resistance. The promise and challenges facing each of these polytherapies are elaborated with a perspective on how to effectively deploy such therapies in patients. We highlight efforts to harness computational approaches to predict effective polytherapies and the emerging view that exceptional responders may hold the key to better understanding drug resistance. This review underscores the importance of polytherapies as an effective means of targeting resistance signalling networks and achieving durable clinical responses in the era of personalised cancer medicine.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document