title: N (6)-Methyladenosine (m(6)A) Methylation in mRNA with A Dynamic and Reversible Epigenetic Modification.
abstract: N (6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) is the most abundant and reversible internal modification ubiquitously occurring in eukaryotic mRNA, albeit the significant biological roles of m(6)A methylation have remained largely unclear. The well-known DNA and histone methylations play crucial roles in epigenetic modification of biologic processes in eukaryotes. Analogously, the dynamic and reversible m(6)A RNA modification, which is installed by methyltransferase (METTL3, METTL14, and WTAP), reversed by demethylases (FTO, ALKBH5) and mediated by m(6)A-binding proteins (YTHDF1-3, YTHDC1), may also have a profound impact on gene expression regulation. Recent discoveries of the distributions, functions, and mechanisms of m(6)A modification suggest that this methylation functionally modulates the eukaryotic transcriptome to influence mRNA transcription, splicing, nuclear export, localization, translation, and stability. This reversible mRNA methylation shed light on a new dimension of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression at the RNA level. m(6)A methylation also plays significant and broad roles in various physiological processes, such as development, fertility, carcinogenesis, stemness, early mortality, meiosis and circadian cycle, and links to obesity, cancer, and other human diseases. This review mainly describes the current knowledge of m(6)A and perspectives on future investigations.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.|Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition & Feed Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.|Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory of Feed and Animal Nutrition, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Ruifan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.|Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition & Feed Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.|Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory of Feed and Animal Nutrition, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Denghu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.|Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition & Feed Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.|Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory of Feed and Animal Nutrition, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Yizhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China. xinxiawang@zju.edu.cn.|Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition & Feed Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China. xinxiawang@zju.edu.cn.|Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory of Feed and Animal Nutrition, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China. xinxiawang@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xinxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000241:Adenosine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008745:Methylation; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D008780:Methyltransferases; D000241:Adenosine
keywords: FTO; N 6-Methyladenosine; Post-transcriptional regulation; mRNA methylation