The RNA cap methyltransferases RNMT and CMTR1 co-ordinate gene expression during neural differentiation

Liang, S., Almohammed, R. and Cowling, V. H. (2023) The RNA cap methyltransferases RNMT and CMTR1 co-ordinate gene expression during neural differentiation. Biochemical Society Transactions, (doi: 10.1042/BST20221154) (PMID:37145036) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Regulation of RNA cap formation has potent impacts on gene regulation, controlling which transcripts are expressed, processed and translated into protein. Recently, the RNA cap methyltransferases RNA guanine-7 methyltransferase (RNMT) and cap-specific mRNA (nucleoside-2'-O-)-methyltransferase 1 (CMTR1) have been found to be independently regulated during embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation controlling the expression of overlapping and distinct protein families. During neural differentiation, RNMT is repressed and CMTR1 is up-regulated. RNMT promotes expression of the pluripotency-associated gene products; repression of the RNMT complex (RNMT–RAM) is required for repression of these RNAs and proteins during differentiation. The predominant RNA targets of CMTR1 encode the histones and ribosomal proteins (RPs). CMTR1 up-regulation is required to maintain the expression of histones and RPs during differentiation and to maintain DNA replication, RNA translation and cell proliferation. Thus the co-ordinate regulation of RNMT and CMTR1 is required for different aspects of ES cell differentiation. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms by which RNMT and CMTR1 are independently regulated during ES cell differentiation and explore how this influences the co-ordinated gene regulation required of emerging cell lineages.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by Cancer Research UK core funding to the CRUK Beatson Institute (A31287), a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award (219416/Z/19/Z) to V.H.C. and a China Scholarship Council award to S.L.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cowling, Professor Victoria and Liang, Miss Shang
• Authors: Liang, S., Almohammed, R., and Cowling, V. H.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Biochemical Society Transactions
• Publisher: Portland Press
• ISSN: 0300-5127
• ISSN (Online): 1470-8752
• Published Online: 05 May 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Biochemical Society Transactions 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License