You Fuping's team reveals a new mechanism of innate immune signaling regulating m6A modification

On February 15, 2022, You Fuping's team from Peking University School of Basic Medicine published a research paper titled " TBK1-METTL3 axis facilitates antiviral immunity " in Cell Reports , reporting that TBK1, a key kinase in the innate immune signaling pathway, can be used in virus Directly interacts with METTL3 after infection and enhances the body's type 1 interferon response through dual regulation of METTL3 function .

Eukaryotic mRNAs usually carry a variety of chemical modifications, among which N ⁶ -methyladenosine ( m ⁶ A ) is the most common internal mRNA modification

The TBK1 - METTL3 axis regulates antiviral innate immunity

In this study, the authors first confirmed the direct interaction between METTL3 and TBK1 through protein profiling analysis, combined with co-immunoprecipitation and microthermophoresis experiments, and that METTL3 could synergize with TBK1 to activate IFN β expression

To continue to explore the impact of S67 phosphorylation on METTL3 function, we analyzed the protein profiles of wild-type and S67A mutant METTL3 .

In conclusion, this study revealed a new mechanism by which innate immune signals regulate m ⁶ A modification, that is, TBK1 is involved in regulating the m ⁶ A activity and protein translation function of METTL3 at the same time, and promotes the body's type 1 interferon response .

Professor You Fuping from Peking University School of Basic Medicine is the corresponding author of the paper

The project was supported by the National Key R&D Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Beijing Natural Science Foundation of China's key research projects

Original link: https://doi.

( Peking University School of Basic Medicine )