Evidence for the potential role of m6A modification in regulating autophagy in models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Objective: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease. Research indicates that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification plays a crucial role in cellular autophagy during ALS development. This study investigates the role of autophagy in ALS, with a focus on the effect of messenger ribonucleic acid m6A methylation modification on disease progression.

Material and methods: We compared m6A levels and regulatory molecule expressions in transgenic superoxide dismutase (SOD1)-G93A and non-transgenic mice, categorized into end-stage and control groups, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. The NSC-34 cell line, which was modified to model ALS, enabled the investigation of apoptosis, autophagy, and autophagy disruption through terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling assays, Western blotting, and fluorescent staining.

Results: Our findings indicate significantly elevated m6A methylation levels in ALS mice (0.262 ± 0.005) compared with the controls (0.231 ± 0.003) and in the ALS model cells (0.242±0.005) relative to those belonging to the wild-type control group (0.183 ± 0.007). Furthermore, the proteins involved in m6A RNA modification differed between groups, which suggest impaired autophagy flux in the ALS models.

Conclusion: These results suggest that m6A methylation may accelerate ALS progression through the disruption of autophagic processes. Our study underscores the role of m6A methylation in the pathology of ALS and proposes the targeting of m6A methylation as a potential therapeutic strategy for disease treatment. Although this study primarily used transgenic SOD1-G93A mice and NSC-34 cell models to investigate ALS pathology, potential differences in disease mechanisms between animal models and humans must be considered. Although a correlation was detected between m6A methylation levels and autophagy disruption in ALS, the study primarily established an association rather than provided detailed mechanistic insights.