METTL14 is a chromatin regulator independent of its RNA N6-methyladenosine methyltransferase activity

METTL3 and METTL14 are two components that form the core heterodimer of the main RNA m6A methyltransferase complex (MTC) that installs m6A. Surprisingly, depletion of METTL3 or METTL14 displayed distinct effects on stemness maintenance of mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC). While comparable global hypo-methylation in RNA m6A was observed in Mettl3 or Mettl14 knockout mESCs, respectively. Mettl14 knockout led to a globally decreased nascent RNA synthesis, whereas Mettl3 depletion resulted in transcription upregulation, suggesting that METTL14 might possess an m6A-independent role in gene regulation. We found that METTL14 colocalizes with the repressive H3K27me3 modification. Mechanistically, METTL14, but not METTL3, binds H3K27me3 and recruits KDM6B to induce H3K27me3 demethylation independent of METTL3. Depletion of METTL14 thus led to a global increase in H3K27me3 level along with a global gene suppression. The effects of METTL14 on regulation of H3K27me3 is essential for the transition from self-renewal to differentiation of mESCs. This work reveals a regulatory mechanism on heterochromatin by METTL14 in a manner distinct from METTL3 and independently of m6A, and critically impacts transcriptional regulation, stemness maintenance, and differentiation of mESCs.

Spatio-temporal expression profile of Mettl3/Mettl14 during mouse retina development / Perfil de expresión espacio-temporal de Mettl3 / Mettl14 durante el desarrollo de la retina del ratón

SUMMARY: The Mettl3/Mettl14 methyltransferase complex installs the most ubiquitous internal mRNA modification- N6-methyladenosine (m6A). The vertebrate retina development is a multi-step process that requires fine-tuning of multiple cellular events, but very little is known about the potential function of Mettl3 and Mettl14 in this process. In this study, we demonstrated the spatio-temporal expression of Mettl3 and Mettl14 during retina development in mouse by quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence staining. We found that these two components of methyltransferase complex could be detected from the beginning of retina development; and the expression of Mettl3 and Mettl14 were gradually restricted to inner nuclear layer (INL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL); Double labeling showed that Mettl3 and Mettl14 had similar expression patterns in mature retinal INL and GCL. Overall, our spatio-temporal expression data provided the foundation for future research on the function of m6A modification in the retina development.

RESUMEN: El complejo Mettl3 / Mettl14 metiltransferasa establece la modificación interna más significativa de ARNm: N6- metiladenosina (m6A). El desarrollo de la retina de los vertebrados es un proceso de varios pasos que requiere múltiples eventos celulares; existe muy poca información sobre la función potencial de Mettl3 y Mettl14 en este proceso. En este estudio, demostramos la expresión espacio-temporal de Mettl3 y Mettl14 durante el desarrollo de la retina en ratón mediante PCR cuantitativa y tinción de inmunofluorescencia. Descubrimos que estos dos componentes del complejo de metiltransferasa podían ser detectados desde el comienzo del desarrollo de la retina; la expresión de Mettl3 y Mettl14 se restringió gradualmente a la capa nuclear interna (INL) y la capa de células ganglionares (GCL); se observó que Mettl3 y Mettl14 tenían patrones de expresión similares en INL y GCL retinianos maduros. En general, nuestros datos de expresión espacio-temporal proporcionan información para futuras investigaciones sobre la función de la modificación de m6A en el desarrollo de la retina.

METTL14 as a predictor of postoperative survival outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the expression of RNA methyltransferase METTL14 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical significance.@*METHODS@#Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of METTL14 in 147 pairs of HCC and adjacent hepatic tissues. According to the scores rated by pathologists, the 147 cases of HCC were divided into high and low METTL14 expression groups. The correlation between the expression of METTL14 and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed, and Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the relationship between the expression of METTL14 and the prognosis and survival (including the overall survival and disease-free survival) of the patients with HCC after operation. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were carried out to assess the impact of METTL14 expression level on the overall survival and tumor-free survival of the patients after operation using a COX regression model and explore whether METTL14 expression level is an independent prognostic risk factor of the postoperative patients.@*RESULTS@#The expression of METTL14 was significantly lower in HCC tissues than in the adjacent tissues ( < 0.001). METTL14 expression in HCC tissues was significantly correlated with the tumor size (=0.044) and TNM stage (=0.046). A low expression of METTL14 in HCC tissues was significantly correlated with a poor prognosis and a significantly shortened overall survival time and disease-free survival time of the patients ( < 0.05), and was an independent risk factor affecting the overall survival and disease-free survival of HCC patients.@*CONCLUSIONS@#METTL14 may be a new prognostic marker for patients with HCC after hepatectomy.