N6-adenosine methylation in MiRNAs

Tea Berulava; Sven Rahmann; Katrin Rademacher; Ludgar Klein-Hitpass; Bernhard Horsthemke

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118438

N6-adenosine methylation in MiRNAs

PLoS One. 2015 Feb 27;10(2):e0118438. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118438. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Tea Berulava¹, Sven Rahmann², Katrin Rademacher¹, Ludgar Klein-Hitpass³, Bernhard Horsthemke¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
² Genome Informatics, Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
³ Institute of Cell Biology (Tumor Research), University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.

Abstract

Methylation of N6-adenosine (m6A) has been observed in many different classes of RNA, but its prevalence in microRNAs (miRNAs) has not yet been studied. Here we show that a knockdown of the m6A demethylase FTO affects the steady-state levels of several miRNAs. Moreover, RNA immunoprecipitation with an anti-m6A-antibody followed by RNA-seq revealed that a significant fraction of miRNAs contains m6A. By motif searches we have discovered consensus sequences discriminating between methylated and unmethylated miRNAs. The epigenetic modification of an epigenetic modifier as described here adds a new layer to the complexity of the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adenosine / metabolism*
Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO
Epigenesis, Genetic*
Gene Knockdown Techniques
HEK293 Cells
Humans
Methylation
MicroRNAs / genetics*
Proteins / genetics
RNA Stability
RNA, Messenger / genetics

Substances

MicroRNAs
Proteins
RNA, Messenger
Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase FTO
FTO protein, human
Adenosine

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (grant number 01KU1216F). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.