Methyltransferase complex subunit METTL3 maintains genome stability of erythroid cells via MTHFD1-mediated nucleotide biosynthesis

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Abstract

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 the 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 colony-forming unit–erythroid cells and cell-cycle arrest of erythroblasts. Integrated m6A-seq 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 deoxythymidine monophosphate and inosine monophosphate, in erythroid cells. Additionally, inhibition of METTL3 in human erythroid cells led to similar phenotypic and molecular changes, indicating a conserved role of METTL3 in human and murine erythropoiesis. Our findings have identified an 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.

Authors

Linlin Zhang, Huizhi Zhao, Shihui Wang, Xueting Wu, Donghao Liu, Hengchao Zhang, Qianqian Yang, Ying Cheng, Xiuyun Wu, Jiangwei Zhao, Shijie Zhang, Huan Zhang, Haojian Zhang, Qiaozhen Kang, Lixiang Chen, Xiuli An, Xiaoli Qu