The roles and mechanisms of YTH domain-containing proteins in cancer development and progression

Shuiping Liu; Guohua Li; Qiujie Li; Qin Zhang; Lvjia Zhuo; Xiaying Chen; Bingtao Zhai; Xinbing Sui; Ke Chen; Tian Xie

The roles and mechanisms of YTH domain-containing proteins in cancer development and progression

Am J Cancer Res. 2020 Apr 1;10(4):1068-1084. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Shuiping Liu^{1

2

3

4}, Guohua Li^{1

3

4}, Qiujie Li^{1

3

4}, Qin Zhang^{1

3

4}, Lvjia Zhuo^{1

3

4}, Xiaying Chen^{1

3

4}, Bingtao Zhai^{1

3

4}, Xinbing Sui^{1

3

4}, Ke Chen⁵, Tian Xie^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Holistic Integrative Pharmacy Institutes, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Zhejiang Chinese Medical University Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Elemene Class Anti-Cancer Chinese Medicine of Zhejiang Province Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ Engineering Laboratory of Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Zhejiang Province Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁵ Department of General Surgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

PMID: 32368386
PMCID: PMC7191095

Abstract

Evolutionarily conserved YT521-B homology (YTH) domain-containing proteins, including YTHDF1-3 and YTHDC1-2, are known to confer m⁶A-dependent RNA-binding activity. The YTH domain-containing proteins participate in numerous RNA processes, such as mRNA splicing, nuclear export, translation and decay in post-transcriptional regulation. Most recently, it has been found that YTH domain-containing proteins play important roles in post-transcriptional modification process hence modulate the expression of genes involved in cancer and other processes including cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, migration and invasion, inflammatory, immunity and autophagy. In this review, we summarize the roles and molecular mechanisms of YTH domain-containing proteins in cancer development and progression. In addition, we discuss the prospect of using YTH domain-containing proteins as a new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancers.

Keywords: YTH domain-containing proteins; biomarker; m6A modification; tumorigenesis and development.

Publication types

Review