m6A Demethylase ALKBH5 Maintains Tumorigenicity of Glioblastoma Stem-like Cells by Sustaining FOXM1 Expression and Cell Proliferation Program

Publication date: Available online 23 March 2017
Source:Cancer Cell
Author(s): Sicong Zhang, Boxuan Simen Zhao, Aidong Zhou, Kangyu Lin, Shaoping Zheng, Zhike Lu, Yaohui Chen, Erik P. Sulman, Keping Xie, Oliver Bögler, Sadhan Majumder, Chuan He, Suyun Huang
The dynamic and reversible N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) RNA modification installed and erased by N⁶-methyltransferases and demethylases regulates gene expression and cell fate. We show that the m⁶A demethylase ALKBH5 is highly expressed in glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs). Silencing ALKBH5 suppresses the proliferation of patient-derived GSCs. Integrated transcriptome and m⁶A-seq analyses revealed altered expression of certain ALKBH5 target genes, including the transcription factor FOXM1. ALKBH5 demethylates FOXM1 nascent transcripts, leading to enhanced FOXM1 expression. Furthermore, a long non-coding RNA antisense to FOXM1 (FOXM1-AS) promotes the interaction of ALKBH5 with FOXM1 nascent transcripts. Depleting ALKBH5 and FOXM1-AS disrupted GSC tumorigenesis through the FOXM1 axis. Our work uncovers a critical function for ALKBH5 and provides insight into critical roles of m⁶A methylation in glioblastoma.

Graphical abstract

Teaser

Zhang et al. reveal that elevated RNA m⁶A demethylase ALKBH5 in glioblastoma stem-like cells enhances self-renewal and tumorigenesis through regulation of FOXM1. The lncRNA antisense to FOXM1 promotes the interaction of ALKBH5 with FOXM1 nascent RNA, leading to demethylation and elevated expression of FOXM1.


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