Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5893350 | Current Opinion in Genetics & Development | 2014 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
While the presence of 6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications in mRNA was noted several decades ago, the first enzyme reversing this modification was identified very recently. Today we know of two methyltransferases introducing m6A in mRNA - METTL3 and METTL14 - and two demethylases that remove it have been identified - FTO (ALKBH9) and ALKBH5. The conserved role of m6A seems to relate to meiosis, and mice lacking ALKBH5 are infertile. While loss-of-function mutation in FTO causes a recessive lethal syndrome, sequence variants in introns of the FTO gene are associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
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Authors
Arne Klungland, John Arne Dahl,