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Cellular and Molecular Biology

The critical roles of m6A RNA methylation in lung cancer: from mechanism to prognosis and therapy

British Journal of Cancer volume 129, pages 8–23 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lung cancer, a highly malignant disease, greatly affects patients’ quality of life. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is one of the most common posttranscriptional modifications of various RNAs, including mRNAs and ncRNAs. Emerging studies have demonstrated that m6A participates in normal physiological processes and that its dysregulation is involved in many diseases, especially pulmonary tumorigenesis and progression. Among these, regulators including m6A writers, readers and erasers mediate m6A modification of lung cancer-related molecular RNAs to regulate their expression. Furthermore, the imbalance of this regulatory effect adversely affects signalling pathways related to lung cancer cell proliferation, invasion, metastasis and other biological behaviours. Based on the close association between m6A and lung cancer, various prognostic risk models have been established and novel drugs have been developed. Overall, this review comprehensively elaborates the mechanism of m6A regulation in the development of lung cancer, suggesting its potential for clinical application in the therapy and prognostic assessment of lung cancer.

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Fig. 1: The m6A modification regulates the proliferation of lung cancer.
Fig. 2: The m6A modification regulates the invasion and migration of lung cancer.
Fig. 3: The role of m6A modification in the progression of lung cancer.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22006084); Hubei Key Laboratory of Environmental and Health Effects of Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS2019-05; PTS2019-06); and graphical abstract was modified from Servier Medical Art (http://smart.servier.com/).

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  1. Institute for Translational Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, College of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266021, China

    Mei-Ning Diao, Xiao-Jing Zhang & Yin-Feng Zhang

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MND, XJZ searched the literature, YFZ provided inspiration and guidance for writing, MND wrote the manuscript and prepared all the figures and tables. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Diao, MN., Zhang, XJ. & Zhang, YF. The critical roles of m6A RNA methylation in lung cancer: from mechanism to prognosis and therapy. Br J Cancer 129, 8–23 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-023-02246-6

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