N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is a prevalent modification of mammalian mRNA. Increasing evidence has documented diverse roles of m6A in normal cell physiology and diseases. However, its functional role in erythropoiesis remains poorly understood. In this study, we found that deletion of Mettl3 using EpoR-Cre mouse led to microcytic/hypochromic anemia due to defective erythropoiesis along with impaired hemoglobin biosynthesis. Mechanically, Mettl3 deficiency disrupted nucleotide biosynthesis which induced DNA damage, leading to apoptosis of CFU-E cells and cell cycle arrest of erythroblasts. Integrated m6A sequencing and RNA-seq analysis along with biochemical studies identified Mthfd1, a key enzyme involved in nucleotide biosynthesis, as a Mettl3 direct target gene. Furthermore, deletion of Mettl3 led to decreased expression of Mthfd1 accompanied by a shortage of nucleotides dTMP and IMP in erythroid cells. Additionally, inhibition of METTL3 in human erythroid cells led to similar phenotypic and molecular changes, indicating conserved role of METTL3 in human and murine erythropoiesis. Our findings have identified a METTL3-m6A-MTHFD1 axis that plays a critical role in erythropoiesis by maintaining genome stability of erythroid cells via regulation of nucleotide biosynthesis. These findings provide important insights into the regulatory mechanisms of erythropoiesis and may have implications for underlying the mechanisms of anemias.
Zhang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.