1. Academic Validation
  2. p53 m6A modulation sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma to apatinib through apoptosis

p53 m6A modulation sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma to apatinib through apoptosis

  • Apoptosis. 2022 Jun;27(5-6):426-440. doi: 10.1007/s10495-022-01728-x.
Weiwei Ke 1 Linlin Zhang 1 Xiangxuan Zhao 1 Zaiming Lu 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, 36 Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110004, Liaoning, China.
  • 2 Department of Radiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, 36 Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110004, Liaoning, China. luzaiming@sina.com.
Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is insidious and prone to metastasis and recurrence. Currently, no effective treatment is available for HCC. Furthermore, HCC does not respond to various radio- and chemotherapies, and the molecular mechanism of treatment resistance is unclear. Here, we found that p53 n6-methyladenosine (m6A) played a decisive role in regulating HCC sensitivity to chemotherapy via the p53 activator RG7112 and the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor apatinib. Our results reveal that p53 activation plays a crucial role in chemotherapy-induced Apoptosis and reducing cell viability. Moreover, decreasing m6A methyltransferase (e.g., methyltransferase-like 3, METTL3) expression through chemotherapeutic drug combinations reduced p53 mRNA m6A modification. p53 mRNA m6A modification blockage induced by S-adenosyl homocysteine or siRNA-mediated METTL3 inhibition enhanced HCC sensitivity to chemotherapy. Importantly, we observed that downregulation of METTL3 and upregulation of p53 expression by oral administration of chemotherapy drugs triggered Apoptosis and xenograft tumor growth inhibition in nude mice. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that a METTL3-m6A-p53 axis could be a potential target in HCC therapy.

Keywords

Chemotherapy; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Target therapy; m6A; p53.

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