Reduced m6A mRNA methylation is correlated with the progression of human cervical cancer

// Xiuli Wang 1, 2, * , Zenghui Li 2, * , Beihua Kong 1 , Chen Song 3 , Jianglin Cong 2 , Jianqing Hou 2 and Shaoguang Wang 2 1 Department of Gynecology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, P.R. China 2 The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai, Shandong, 264000, P.R. China 3 Department of Gynecology, Zhucheng Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Zhucheng, Shandong 262200, P.R. China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Beihua Kong, email: jiangshuzhongxu@gmail.com Keywords: m 6 A RNA methylation; cervical cancer; cancer Received: May 04, 2017      Accepted: October 02, 2017      Published: October 24, 2017 ABSTRACT The m 6 A mRNA methylation involves in mRNA splicing, degradation and translation. Recent studies have revealed that reduced m 6 A mRNA methylation might promote cancer development. However, the role of m 6 A mRNA methylation in cervical cancer development remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated the role of m 6 A methylation in cervical cancer in the current study. We first evaluated the m 6 A mRNA methylation level in 286 pairs of cervical cancer samples and their adjacent normal tissues by dot blot assay. Then the role of m 6 A on patient survival rates and cervical cancer progression were assessed. The m 6 A level was significantly reduced in the cervical cancer when comparing with the adjacent normal tissue. The m 6 A level reduction was significantly correlated with the FIGO stage, tumor size, differentiation, lymph invasion and cancer recurrence. It was also shown to be an independent prognostic indicator of disease-free survival and overall survival for patients with cervical cancer. Reducing m 6 A level via manipulating the m 6 A regulators expression promoted cervical cancer cell proliferation. And increasing m 6 A level significantly suppressed tumor development both in vitro and in vivo . Our results showed that the reduced m 6 A level is tightly associated with cervical cancer development and m 6 A mRNA methylation might be a potential therapeutic target in cervical cancer.