Figure 2.

Functional roles of m⁶A modification on mRNA expression. (A) RNA circularization. METTL3, an RNA methyltransferase located at the 3'-UTR, combines with METTL14 and WTAP to form the MAC complex, which increases the translation of specific mRNAs independently through its catalytic activity and recruitment of eIF3H. YTHDF1 binds to eIF4G at 5'-UTR, which promotes the process of RNA circularization. (B) YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 synergistically promote protein synthesis, while YTHDF2 affects the attenuation of methylated mRNA. YTHDF1/2/3 serves a key role in the metabolism of N⁶-methyladenosine-modified mRNAs in the cytoplasm. METTL, methyltransferase-like; UTR, untranslated region; WTAP, Wilms tumor 1-associating protein; MAC, m⁶A-METTL complex; eIF3H, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3H; YTHDF, YTH domain protein families.