M6A modification of mRNA in skin diseases.

Abstract

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the predominant post-transcriptional modification for eukaryotic mRNA. It's regulated by methyltransferases, demethylases, and m6A binding proteins, and plays an important role in regulating splicing, translation, and degradation of mRNA. Skin diseases, especially immune skin diseases and skin tumors, have a complicated pathogenesis and are refractory to treatment, seriously affecting the patient quality of life. Recent studies have revealed that m6A and its regulatory proteins can affect the development of numerous skin diseases. The m6A modification was found to be involved in skin accessory development, including hair follicle and sweat gland formation. The level of m6A modification was significantly altered in a variety of skin diseases including melanoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, and psoriasis, and affected a variety of biological processes including cell proliferation and differentiation migration. The m6A and its regulatory proteins may become potential molecular markers or therapeutic targets for skin diseases, and have promising clinical applications in early diagnosis, efficacy determination, prognosis prediction, and gene therapy of skin diseases.