1
|
Wang Z, Zhang YX, Shi JZ, Yan Y, Zhao LL, Kou JJ, He YY, Xie XM, Zhang SJ, Pang XB. RNA m6A methylation and regulatory proteins in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Hypertens Res 2024; 47:1273-1287. [PMID: 38438725 DOI: 10.1038/s41440-024-01607-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
m6A (N6‑methyladenosine) is the most common and abundant apparent modification in mRNA of eukaryotes. The modification of m6A is regulated dynamically and reversibly by methyltransferase (writer), demethylase (eraser), and binding protein (reader). It plays a significant role in various processes of mRNA metabolism, including regulation of transcription, maturation, translation, degradation, and stability. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a malignant cardiopulmonary vascular disease characterized by abnormal proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. Despite the existence of several effective and targeted therapies, there is currently no cure for PAH and the prognosis remains poor. Recent studies have highlighted the crucial role of m6A modification in cardiovascular diseases. Investigating the role of RNA m6A methylation in PAH could provide valuable insights for drug development. This review aims to explore the mechanism and function of m6A in the pathogenesis of PAH and discuss the potential targeting of RNA m6A methylation modification as a treatment for PAH.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Wang
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Henan, China
| | - Yi-Xuan Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Henan, China
| | - Jun-Zhuo Shi
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Henan, China
| | - Yi Yan
- Heart Center and Shanghai Institute of Pediatric Congenital Heart Disease, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, National Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Lu-Ling Zhao
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Henan, China
| | - Jie-Jian Kou
- Department of Pharmacy, Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Henan, China
| | - Yang-Yang He
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Henan, China
| | - Xin-Mei Xie
- School of Pharmacy, Henan University, Henan, China.
| | - Si-Jin Zhang
- Department of Cardiology, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
| | | |
Collapse
|
2
|
Shao W, Ning W, Liu C, Zou Y, Yao Y, Kang J, Cao Z. Histone Methyltransferase SETD2 Is Required for Porcine Early Embryonic Development. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12172226. [PMID: 36077946 PMCID: PMC9454584 DOI: 10.3390/ani12172226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Normal early embryonic development is important for ensuring sow fertility. Low quality of in vitro production embryos severely limits extensive application of porcine embryo engineering technologies in animal agriculture and the biomedicine field. Histone H3K36 methyltransferase SETD2 reportedly regulates oocyte maturation and preimplantation embryonic development in mice. However, the specific substrate and function of SETD2 in porcine early embryonic development remains unclear. Here, we show that SETD2 preferentially catalyzes H3K36me3 in porcine early embryos. SETD2 knockdown severely impeded blastocyst cavitation and perturbed normal allocation of inner cell mass and trophectoderm. SETD2 knockdown caused the apoptosis of cells within blastocysts. Therefore, SETD2 is essential for porcine early embryonic development. These findings provide a better understanding of porcine early embryonic development and lay a potential basis for improving the quality of porcine in vitro production embryos. Abstract SET domain-containing 2 (SETD2) is a methyltransferase that can catalyze the di- and tri-methylation of lysine 36 on histone H3 (H3K36me2/me3). SETD2 frequently mediates H3K36me3 modification to regulate both oocyte maturation and preimplantation embryonic development in mice. However, the specific substrate and function of SETD2 in porcine early embryonic development are still unclear. In this study, SETD2 preferentially catalyzed H3K36me3 to regulate porcine early embryonic development. SETD2 mRNA is dynamically expressed during early embryonic development. Functional studies using an RNA interference (RNAi) approach revealed that the expression levels of SETD2 mRNA were effectively knocked down by siRNA microinjection. Immunofluorescence analysis indicated that SETD2 knockdown (KD) did not affect H3K36me2 modification but significantly reduced H3K36me3 levels, suggesting a preferential H3K36me3 recognition of SETD2 in porcine embryos. Furthermore, SETD2 KD significantly reduced blastocyst rate and disrupted allocation between inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) lineage. The expression levels of key genes important for specification of the first two lineages apparently decreased in SETD2 KD blastocysts. SETD2 KD markedly increased the apoptotic percentage of cells within embryos and altered the expression of pro- and anti-apoptotic genes. Therefore, our data indicate that SETD2 is essential for porcine early embryonic development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Zubing Cao
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-551-6578-6537
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Bilmez Y, Talibova G, Ozturk S. Expression of the histone lysine methyltransferases SETD1B, SETDB1, SETD2, and CFP1 exhibits significant changes in the oocytes and granulosa cells of aged mouse ovaries. Histochem Cell Biol 2022; 158:79-95. [PMID: 35445296 DOI: 10.1007/s00418-022-02102-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Histone methylation is one of the main epigenetic mechanisms by which methyl groups are dynamically added to the lysine and arginine residues of histone tails in nucleosomes. This process is catalyzed by specific histone methyltransferase enzymes. Methylation of these residues promotes gene expression regulation through chromatin remodeling. Functional analysis and knockout studies have revealed that the histone lysine methyltransferases SETD1B, SETDB1, SETD2, and CFP1 play key roles in establishing the methylation marks required for proper oocyte maturation and follicle development. As oocyte quality and follicle numbers progressively decrease with advancing maternal age, investigating their expression patterns in the ovaries at different reproductive periods may elucidate the fertility loss occurring during ovarian aging. The aim of our study was to determine the spatiotemporal distributions and relative expression levels of the Setd1b, Setdb1, Setd2, and Cxxc1 (encoding the CFP1 protein) genes in the postnatal mouse ovaries from prepuberty to late aged periods. For this purpose, five groups based on their reproductive periods and histological structures were created: prepuberty (3 weeks old; n = 6), puberty (7 weeks old; n = 7), postpuberty (18 weeks old; n = 7), early aged (52 weeks old; n = 7), and late aged (60 weeks old; n = 7). We found that Setd1b, Setdb1, Setd2, and Cxxc1 mRNA levels showed significant changes among postnatal ovary groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, SETD1B, SETDB1, SETD2, and CFP1 proteins exhibited different subcellular localizations in the ovarian cells, including oocytes, granulosa cells, stromal and germinal epithelial cells. In general, their levels in the follicles, oocytes, and granulosa cells as well as in the germinal epithelial and stromal cells significantly decreased in the aged groups when compared the other groups (P < 0.05). These decreases were concordant with the reduced numbers of the follicles at different stages and the luteal structures in the aged groups (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these findings suggest that altered expression of the histone methyltransferase genes in the ovarian cells may be associated with female fertility loss in advancing maternal age.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yesim Bilmez
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Campus, 07070, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Gunel Talibova
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Campus, 07070, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Saffet Ozturk
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Campus, 07070, Antalya, Turkey.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Bilmez Y, Talibova G, Ozturk S. Dynamic changes of histone methylation in mammalian oocytes and early embryos. Histochem Cell Biol 2021; 157:7-25. [PMID: 34599660 DOI: 10.1007/s00418-021-02036-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Histone methylation is a key epigenetic mechanism and plays a major role in regulating gene expression during oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis. This mechanism can be briefly defined as the process by which methyl groups are transferred to lysine and arginine residues of histone tails extending from nucleosomes. While methylation of the lysine residues is catalyzed by histone lysine methyltransferases (KMTs), protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) add methyl groups to the arginine residues. When necessary, the added methyl groups can be reversibly removed by histone demethylases (HDMs) by a process called histone demethylation. The spatiotemporal regulation of methylation and demethylation in histones contributes to modulating the expression of genes required for proper oocyte maturation and early embryonic development. In this review, we comprehensively evaluate and discuss the functional importance of dynamic histone methylation in mammalian oocytes and early embryos, regulated by KMTs, PRMTs, and HDMs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yesim Bilmez
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Campus, 07070, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Gunel Talibova
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Campus, 07070, Antalya, Turkey
| | - Saffet Ozturk
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Campus, 07070, Antalya, Turkey.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Zhou XL, Huang FJ, Li Y, Huang H, Wu QC. SEDT2/METTL14-mediated m6A methylation awakening contributes to hypoxia-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in mice. Aging (Albany NY) 2021; 13:7538-7548. [PMID: 33658391 PMCID: PMC7993666 DOI: 10.18632/aging.202616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease whose molecular mechanism is unknown. The trimethylation of lysine 36 on histone 3 (H3K36me3) catalyzed by SETD2 and the modification of N6-methyladenine (m6A) mRNA mediated by METTL14 play important roles in a variety of normal and pathological biological processes. However, the role of these epigenetic controls in the pathogenesis of PAH remains unclear. In this study, the expression of SETD2 and METTL14 was elevated in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) of hypoxia-induced PAH mice. We further constructed a mouse model with SETD2 specific knockout in smooth muscle cells (SETD2SM22α Cre). Our results suggest that the lack of SETD2 in SMCs protected mice from hypoxia-induced PAH and significantly reduced right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), right ventricular/left ventricular plus septum [RV/(LV+S)] weight ratio, and pulmonary median width. In addition, the absence of SETD2 in SMCs alleviates the level of METTL14 expression and the m6A RNA methylation level in PAH SMCs. These results obtained from mice suggest that strategies that target the inhibition of SETD2/METTL14 activity may be a viable treatment for PAH in a clinical setting.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xue-Liang Zhou
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China
| | - Feng-Jian Huang
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China
| | - Yang Li
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China
| | - Huang Huang
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China
| | - Qi-Cai Wu
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Fowler KE, Mandawala AA, Griffin DK, Walling GA, Harvey SC. The production of pig preimplantation embryos in vitro: Current progress and future prospects. Reprod Biol 2018; 18:203-211. [DOI: 10.1016/j.repbio.2018.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2018] [Revised: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
|