1. NSun2 promotes cell migration through methylating autotaxin mRNA
- Author
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Yihua Zhang, Junjie Zhang, Xiaotian Zhang, and Xin Xu
- Subjects
autotaxin ,0301 basic medicine ,cell migration ,NSun2 ,Biochemistry ,mRNA methylation ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Cell Movement ,Neoplasms ,Lysophosphatidic acid ,Tumor Cells, Cultured ,Humans ,RNA methyltransferase ,cancer ,Gene Regulation ,RNA, Messenger ,3' Untranslated Regions ,RNA-methyltransferase ,Molecular Biology ,Regulation of gene expression ,Gene knockdown ,Messenger RNA ,030102 biochemistry & molecular biology ,Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases ,RNA ,Methyltransferases ,Cell Biology ,Methylation ,DNA Methylation ,Cell biology ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,030104 developmental biology ,chemistry ,RNA methylation ,MRNA methylation ,Autotaxin ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
NSun2 is an RNA methyltransferase introducing 5-methylcytosine into tRNAs, mRNAs, and noncoding RNAs, thereby influencing the levels or function of these RNAs. Autotaxin (ATX) is a secreted glycoprotein and is recognized as a key factor in converting lysophosphatidylcholine into lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). The ATX-LPA axis exerts multiple biological effects in cell survival, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. Here, we show that NSun2 is involved in the regulation of cell migration through methylating ATX mRNA. In the human glioma cell line U87, knockdown of NSun2 decreased ATX protein levels, whereas overexpression of NSun2 elevated ATX protein levels. However, neither overexpression nor knockdown of NSun2 altered ATX mRNA levels. Further studies revealed that NSun2 methylated the 3′-UTR of ATX mRNA at cytosine 2756 in vitro and in vivo. Methylation by NSun2 enhanced ATX mRNA translation. In addition, NSun2-mediated 5-methylcytosine methylation promoted the export of ATX mRNA from nucleus to cytoplasm in an ALYREF-dependent manner. Knockdown of NSun2 suppressed the migration of U87 cells, which was rescued by the addition of LPA. In summary, we identify NSun2-mediated methylation of ATX mRNA as a novel mechanism in the regulation of ATX.
- Published
- 2020