Functions and Dynamics of Methylation in Eukaryotic mRNA

authored by

Mingjia Chen, Claus-Peter Witte

Abstract

Eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA) contains non-canonical nucleosides, which are modified mostly by methylation. Although some modifications are known for decades, advances in high-throughput sequencing and mass spectrometric techniques now have allowed to elucidate transcriptome wide methylation patterns. The discovery of methyltransferases that write and demethylases that erase methylations in a sequence-specific manner, as well as reader proteins that recognize these modifications leading to a specific biological response, has triggered wide attention converting the research field of mRNA methylation into a current hotspot in molecular biology. Most research has focussed on N

⁶-methyladenosine (m

⁶A), which is the most abundant modification in eukaryotic mRNA. Therefore, this overview has a focus on m

⁶A summarizing the current knowledge on how specific m

⁶A patterns are generated and how they are recognized and translated into biological outputs like alternative splicing, altered transcript stability, or modified translational activity of mRNAs. The distribution patterns of other methylations in mRNA, such as N

¹-methyladenosine (m

¹A), 5-methylcytidine (m

⁵C) and 5-hydroxymethylcytidine (hm

⁵C) have also been mapped in recent years. We review the current knowledge regarding these and other minor eukaryotic mRNA methylations and provide an outlook suggesting potential future research directions.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Plant Nutrition

External Organisation(s)

Nanjing Agricultural University

Type

Contribution to book/anthology

Pages

333-351

No. of pages

Publication date

2019

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cancer Research, Biochemistry, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, medical

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14792-1_13 (Access: Closed)