The essential role of N6-methyladenosine RNA methylation in complex eye diseases

Xiaohua Li; Binyun Ma; Wenfang Zhang; Zongming Song; Xiaodan Zhang; Mengyu Liao; Xue Li; Xueru Zhao; Mei Du; Jinguo Yu; Shikun He; Hua Yan

doi:10.1016/j.gendis.2022.05.008

The essential role of N6-methyladenosine RNA methylation in complex eye diseases

Genes Dis. 2022 May 26;10(2):505-520. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2022.05.008. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Xiaohua Li¹, Binyun Ma², Wenfang Zhang³, Zongming Song¹, Xiaodan Zhang⁴, Mengyu Liao⁴, Xue Li¹, Xueru Zhao¹, Mei Du⁴, Jinguo Yu⁴, Shikun He^{5

4

1}, Hua Yan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Henan Eye Hospital, Henan Eye Institute, Henan Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, People's Hospital of Henan University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450003, China.
² Department of Medicine/Hematology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, Gansu 730030, China.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Laboratory of Molecular Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University. Department of Pharmacology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Inflammation Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300052, China.
⁵ Department of Pathology and Ophthalmology, USC Roski Eye Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.

Abstract

There are many complex eye diseases which are the leading causes of blindness, however, the pathogenesis of the complex eye diseases is not fully understood, especially the underlying molecular mechanisms of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation in the eye diseases have not been extensive clarified. Our review summarizes the latest advances in the studies of m6A modification in the pathogenesis of the complex eye diseases, including cornea disease, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, Graves' disease, uveal melanoma, retinoblastoma, and traumatic optic neuropathy. We further discuss the possibility of developing m6A modification signatures as biomarkers for the diagnosis of the eye diseases, as well as potential therapeutic approaches.

Keywords: Degeneration; Eye diseases; Fibrosis; Inflammation; Tumor; m6A RNA methylation.

Publication types

Review