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. 2020 Oct 7;53(11):e12921. doi: 10.1111/cpr.12921

Table 1.

Roles of m6A regulators in different cancers

Cancer m6A regulator Role in cancer Mechanism References
AML METTL3 Oncogene Promotes AML progression by promoting the translation of c‐MYC, BCL‐2 and PTEN mRNAs 57
METTL3 Oncogene Be recruited by CEBPZ to promoters of a specific set of active gene (SP1) and increased translation, resulting in the maintenance of a leukaemic state 58
METTL14 Oncogene Enhances MYB and MYC expression, promotes myeloid differentiation of HSPCs and AML cells and leukaemogenesis 56
WTAP Oncogene Induces abnormal proliferation and arrested differentiation of leukaemia cells 24
FTO Oncogene Promotes leukaemic oncogene‐mediated cell transformation and leukemogenesis and weakens the therapeutic effect of ATRA 62
FTO Oncogene Be inhibited by R‐2HG, resulting in anti‐tumour effect via targeting FTO/m6A/MYC/CEBPA signalling 63
Glioblastoma METTL3, METTL14 Tumour suppressor Inhibits GSC self‐renewal and tumorigenesis by down‐regulating oncogenes (ADAM19, EPHA3 and KLF4) and up‐regulating tumour suppressor genes (CDKN2A, BRCA2 and TP53I11) 68
WTAP Oncogene Be correlated with glioma grade and poor postoperative survival in glioma patients 71
ALKBH5 Oncogene Maintains tumorigenicity of GSC by sustaining FOXM1 expression and cell proliferation programme 72
BC METTL3 Oncogene Promotes cell proliferation via HBXIP/let‐7g/METTL3/HBXIP positive feedback loop 74
KIAA1429 Oncogene Promotes BC progression by regulating CDK1 by an m6A‐independent manner 75
ALKBH5 Oncogene Promotes NANOG mRNA and protein expression and mediates enrichment of BCSCs in the hypoxic tumour microenvironment 76
FTO Oncogene Promoted cell proliferation, colony formation and metastasis by abrogating the m6A modification of BNIP3 mRNA and epigenetically down‐regulating BNIP3 78
HCC METTL3 Oncogene Promoted cell proliferation, colony formation and metastasis by abrogating the m6A modification of BNIP3 mRNA and epigenetically down‐regulating BNIP3 79
METTL14 Tumour suppressor Be inversely correlated with OS and RFS of HCC patients and inhibits tumour metastasis in vitro and in vivo by modulating the pri‐miRNA 126 process in an m6A‐dependent manner via interacting with DGCR8 81
FTO Oncogene Be correlated with poor prognosis of HCC individuals and promotes tumorigenesis by mediating demethylation of PKM2 mRNA 83
Hepatoblastoma METTL3 Oncogene Serves as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker and promotes tumour growth in vivo by regulating CTNNB1 expression via m6A modification and activating Wnt/β‐catenin signalling 80
GC METTL3 Oncogene P300‐mediated H3K27 acetylation promotes METTL3 expression, which mediates m6A modification on HDGF mRNA and enhances its stability by an IGF2BP3‐dependent manner, resulting in tumour angiogenesis, GC growth and liver metastasis 89
FTO Oncogene Be an increased expression in 375 GC from TCGA data set 92
CRC METTL3 Tumour suppressor Acts as an independent prognostic factor and suppresses cell proliferation and migration through p38/ERK pathways 94
METTL3 Oncogene Mediates m6A modification of CBX8 mRNA and promotes its expression, which maintains the stemness and inhibits the chemosensitivity of CRC 95
METTL3 Oncogene Promotes lncRNA RP11 expression by an m6A‐dependent manner, which targets Siah1/Fbxo45/Zeb1 axis to drive cell dissemination and development of CRC 96
FTO Oncogene Low expression of microRNA‐1266 promotes CRC progression via targeting FTO 97
YTHDC2 Oncogene Be correlated with CRC progression and promotes the cell metastatic ability via promoting translation of HIF‐1α 99
Lung cancer METTL3 Oncogene miR‐33a or miR‐600 suppresses cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting METTL3 101, 102
ALKBH5 Oncogene Promotes cell proliferation and invasion by decreasing m6A level on FOXM1 mRNA and increasing its translation under intermittent hypoxia 106
FTO Oncogene Promotes cell proliferation by increasing the stability of USP7 mRNA 104
FTO Oncogene Promotes progression of lung squamous cell carcinoma by reversing m6A modification of MZF1 mRNA and increasing its stability 105
Bladder cancer METTL3 Oncogene Be correlated with poor prognosis of bladder cancer patients and promotes cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo and tumorigenesis by modulating the pri‐miR221/222 process in an m6A‐dependent manner via interacting DGCR8 108
METTL3 Oncogene Promotes bladder cancer progression via AFF4/NF‐kappaB/MYC signalling network 109
RCC METTL14 Tumour suppressor m6A (METTL14) suppressed P2RX6 activation promotes cell migration and invasion through ATP‐induced Ca2 + influx modulating ERK1/2 phosphorylation and MMP9 signalling pathway 111
WTAP Oncogene Be related to poor prognosis of RCC patients and stabilizes CDK2 transcript to enhance CDK2 expression to promote cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in vivo 112
Pancreatic cancer METTL3 Oncogene Be correlated with poor prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer and promotes cell proliferation, invasion, migration and chemo‐ and radioresistance 114, 115
WTAP Oncogene Be associated with poor overall survival for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma 116
ALKBH5 Tumour suppressor Inhibits pancreatic cancer motility by decreasing lncRNA KCNK15‐AS1 methylation 118
FTO Oncogene Promotes cell proliferation by enhancing stability of c‐Myc mRNA 117
YTHDF2 Unknown Promotes cell proliferation possibly via Akt/GSK3β/Cyclin D1 pathway and inhibits cell migration and invasion probably via up‐regulation of total YAP 119
Cervical cancer FTO Oncogene Contributes to the chemoradiotherapy resistance of cervical squamous cell carcinoma through up‐regulation β‐catenin via mRNA demethylation and the subsequent activation of ERCC1 122
FTO Oncogene Be correlated with cervical cancer progression and promotes cell proliferation and migration via controlling m6A modification of E2F1 and Myc transcripts 123
Endometrial cancer METTL3, METTL14 Tumour suppressor Inhibits cell proliferation, anchorage‐independent growth, and migration and in vivo tumour growth through activation of the AKT pathway 120
Ovarian epithelial cancer ALKBH5 Oncogene Be related to poor OS and progression‐free survival, promotes cell proliferation and invasion, and inhibits autophagy through the interaction between Bcl‐2 and Beclin‐1 and the EGFR‐PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR pathway 124
Cutaneous cancer METTL3 Oncogene Promotes colony formation and invasion of melanoma cells by regulating MMP2 125
METTL3 Oncogene Promotes cSCC cell colony‐forming ability in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo through modulating ΔNp63 in an m6A‐dependent manner 126
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma METTL3 Oncogene Mediates m6A modification of ZNF750 mRNA and blocks its expression, which promotes cell growth through regulating FGF14 127
Osteosarcoma METTL3 Oncogene Promotes cell progression by regulating the m6A level of LEF1 and activating Wnt/β‐catenin signalling pathway 128
Cholangiocarcinoma WTAP Oncogene Increases cell motility and tumorigenicity in vivo 129