Readers of the m 6 A epitranscriptomic code

• Published in: Biochimica et biophysica acta. Gene regulatory mechanisms Vol. 1862; no. 3; p. 329
• Main Authors: Berlivet, Soizik, Scutenaire, Jérémy, Deragon, Jean-Marc, Bousquet-Antonelli, Cécile
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 01-03-2019
• Subjects: Adenine - analogs & derivatives; Adenine - metabolism; Animals; Epigenesis, Genetic; Humans; Methyltransferases - genetics; Methyltransferases - metabolism; RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Transcriptome
• ISSN: 1876-4320

N
-methyl adenosine (m
A) is the most prevalent and evolutionarily conserved, modification of polymerase II transcribed RNAs. By post-transcriptionally controlling patterns of gene expression, m
A deposition is crucial for organism reproduction, development and likely stress responses. m
A mostly mediates its effect by recruiting reader proteins that either directly accommodate the modified residue in a hydrophobic pocket formed by their YTH domain, or otherwise have their affinity positively influenced by the presence of m
A. We firstly describe here the evolutionary history, and review known molecular and physiological roles of eukaryote YTH readers. In the second part, we present non YTH-proteins whose roles as m
A readers largely remain to be explored. The diversity and multiplicity of m
A readers together with the possibility to regulate their expression and function in response to various cues, offers a multitude of possible combinations to rapidly and finely tune gene expression patterns and hence cellular plasticity. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: mRNA modifications in gene expression control edited by Dr. Soller Matthias and Dr. Fray Rupert.