The emerging roles of N6-methyladenosine RNA methylation in human cancers.

N6-methyladenosine (mA) is the most abundant form of mRNA modification in eukaryotes. It affects various aspects of RNA metabolism, including nuclear export, translation, decay and alternative splicing. In addition, mA also participates in a great number of human physiological processes, ranging from spermatogenesis modulation, response to heat shock, the control of T cell homeostasis to stem cell proliferation and differentiation. The dynamic equilibrium of mA level is regulated by mA methyltransferases ("writers"), mA demethylases ("erasers") as well as mA-binding proteins ("readers"). Once the balance is broken, numerous diseases will knock on the door. Recently, increasing studies reveal that mA methylation exerts a profound impact on tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the functions of mA modification and its emerging roles in human cancers, and discuss the potential of mA regulators as biomarkers or therapeutic targets.