Expression patterns of m6A RNA methylation regulators under apoptotic conditions in various human cancer cell lines

Abstract

The emerging evidence suggests that epitranscriptomics changes play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of cancer. However, expression patterns of m6A RNA modifiers under apoptotic conditions are unknown. We measured the transcript abundance of m6A RNA modifiers under cisplatin- and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-)-induced apoptotic conditions. In general, the abundance of m6A modifiers is increased upon cisplatin treatment whereas TNF- treatment has led to a reduction in their expression. Specifically, cisplatin-induced apoptosis, but not TNF- mediated apoptosis, lowered the abundance of METTL14 and FTO transcripts. Additionally, cisplatin treatment plummeted the abundance of IGF2BP2 and IGF2BP3 readers following cisplatin treatment. These results suggest that differential response of cancer cells to apoptotic inducers could be partially due to m6A RNA modifiers.