N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant eukaryote mRNA modification, modulated by regulators known as epigenetic writers, erasers and readers, which are known to serve crucial roles in mRNA metabolism. However, the role of m6A during B-cell development and B-cell tumorigenesis remains poorly understood. By analyzing the gene expression profile of 123 mantle cell lymphoma cases from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, the present study demonstrated that one-half of the m6A regulators were able to predict patient survival in mantle cell lymphoma, notably the m6A.index. The expression levels of the m6A regulators were regarded as good classifiers in mantle cell lymphoma. The m6A.index-low mantle cell lymphoma type exhibited a poor patient survival and lower mRNA levels from the total transcriptome. The m6A regulators may be associated with the cell division and the RNA metabolic pathways, which may result in poor survival of patients with mantle cell lymphoma.
Keywords: N6-methyladenosine; RNA; RNA modification; lymphoma.