RNA cytosine methyltransferase Nsun3 regulates embryonic stem cell differentiation by promoting mitochondrial activity

The dynamic RNA modification 5-methylcytosine and its emerging role as an epitranscriptomic mark

It is a well‐known fact that RNA is the target of a plethora of modifications which currently amount to over a hundred. The vast majority of these modifications was observed in the two most abundant classes of RNA, rRNA and tRNA. With the recent advance in mapping technologies, modifications have been discovered also in mRNA and in less abundant non‐coding RNA species. These developments have sparked renewed interest in elucidating the nature and functions of those “epitransciptomic” modifications in RNA. N6‐methyladenosine (m⁶A) is the best understood and most frequent mark of mRNA with demonstrated functions ranging from pre‐mRNA processing, translation, miRNA biogenesis to mRNA decay. By contrast, much less research has been conducted on 5‐methylcytosine (m5C), which was detected in tRNAs and rRNAs and more recently in poly(A)RNAs. In this review, we discuss recent developments in the discovery of m5C RNA methylomes, the functions of m5C as well as the proteins installing, translating and manipulating this modification. Although our knowledge about m5C in RNA transcripts is just beginning to consolidate, it has become clear that cytosine methylation represents a powerful mechanistic strategy to regulate cellular processes on an epitranscriptomic level.

This article is categorized under:

RNA Processing > RNA Editing and Modification

RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein–RNA Interactions: Functional Implications

RNA Processing > tRNA Processing

RNA Turnover and Surveillance > Regulation of RNA Stability

Above the Epitranscriptome: RNA Modifications and Stem Cell Identity

Sequence databases and transcriptome-wide mapping have revealed different reversible and dynamic chemical modifications of the nitrogen bases of RNA molecules. Modifications occur in coding RNAs and noncoding-RNAs post-transcriptionally and they can influence the RNA structure, metabolism, and function. The result is the expansion of the variety of the transcriptome. In fact, depending on the type of modification, RNA molecules enter into a specific program exerting the role of the player or/and the target in biological and pathological processes. Many research groups are exploring the role of RNA modifications (alias epitranscriptome) in cell proliferation, survival, and in more specialized activities. More recently, the role of RNA modifications has been also explored in stem cell biology. Our understanding in this context is still in its infancy. Available evidence addresses the role of RNA modifications in self-renewal, commitment, and differentiation processes of stem cells. In this review, we will focus on five epitranscriptomic marks: N6-methyladenosine, N1-methyladenosine, 5-methylcytosine, Pseudouridine (Ψ) and Adenosine-to-Inosine editing. We will provide insights into the function and the distribution of these chemical modifications in coding RNAs and noncoding-RNAs. Mainly, we will emphasize the role of epitranscriptomic mechanisms in the biology of naïve, primed, embryonic, adult, and cancer stem cells.