Role of N6-methyladenosine modification in cancer

As the most abundant internal modification in eukaryotic messenger RNAs identified, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has been shown recently to play essential roles in various normal bioprocesses. Evidence is emerging that m6A modification and its regulatory proteins also play critical roles in various cancers including leukemia, brain tumor, breast cancer and lung cancer, etc. For instance, FTO, the first m6A demethylase identified, has been reported recently to play an oncogenic role in leukemia and glioblastoma. ALKBH5 (another m6A demethylase) has been reported to exert a tumor-promoting function in glioblastoma and breast cancer. METTL3 (a major m6A methyltransferase) likely plays distinct roles between glioblastoma and lung cancer. Here we discuss the recent progress and future prospects in study of m6A machinery in cancer.