Open Access Journal Article

The roles of m6A RNA methylation modification in cancer stem cells: new opportunities for cancer suppression

by Haitao Chen a ,  Huilong Li a ,  Wanjin Shi a ,  Hai Qin b,*  and  Lufeng Zheng a,*
a
School of Life Science and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Intervention, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Road, Nanjing 211198, China
b
Department of Clinical Laboratory, Guizhou Provincial Orthopedic Hospital, No. 206, Sixian Street, Baiyun District, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
CI  2022, 10; 1(2), 10; https://doi.org/10.58567/ci01020001
Received: 2 December 2022 / Accepted: 17 December 2022 / Published Online: 18 December 2022
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Abstract

As a reversible post-transcriptional modification, N6-methyladeno sine is the most common form of RNA modification in eukaryotic mRNA. Cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are a subpopulation of cells with self-renewal ability and differentiation potential, have been regarded to be one of the roots of tumor occurrence, recurrence, and metastasis. Currently, numerous studies have demonstrated that m6A RNA modification is critically implicated in the regulation of CSCs stemness or the CSC-like traits of cancer cells. This review summarized the effects of m6A RNA modification-related enzymes and underlying mechanisms contributing to CSCs or cancer cell stemness, which may provide novel targets and research directions for the specifical elimination of CSCs or cancer cells with stemness.

Keywords: Cancer stem cells; m6A RNA modification; post-transcriptional modification; Stemness; CSC-like traits;
Copyright: © 2022 by Chen, Li, Shi, Qin and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.