Targeted Methylation of the LncRNA NEAT1 Suppresses Malignancy of Renal Cell Carcinoma

Long-chain non-coding RNA (LncRNA) has been found to play an important role in the regulation of the occurrence and progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this study, we demonstrated that LncRNA NEAT1 expression and m6A methylation level was decreased in RCC tissues. Further, the downregulated expression level of LncRNA NEAT1 was associated with poor prognosis for RCC patients. Then we used CRIPSR/dCas13b-METTL3 to methylate LncRNA NEAT1 in RCC cells. The results showed that the expression level of LncRNA NEAT1 was upregulated after methylated by dCas13b-METTL3 in RCC cells. And the proliferation and migration ability of RCC cells was decreased after methylated LncRNA NEAT1. Finally, we examined the effect of LncRNA NEAT1 hypermethylation on the transcriptome. We found differentially expressed genes in RCC cells were associated with cGMP-PKG signaling pathway, Cell adhesion molecules and Pathways in cancer. In conclusion, CRISPR/Cas13b-METTL3 targeting LncRNA NEAT1 m6A methylation activates LncRNA NEAT1 expression and provides a new target for treatment of RCC.

Automated summary

In this study, researchers found that the expression of LncRNA NEAT1 and m6A methylation levels were decreased in RCC tissues, which was associated with poor prognosis for patients. By using CRIPSR/dCas13b-METTL3, they demonstrated that methylating LncRNA NEAT1 in RCC cells led to increased expression levels and reduced proliferation and migration abilities. Moreover, hypermethylation of LncRNA NEAT1 was found to affect the transcriptome in RCC cells, showing potential involvement in key signaling pathways related to cancer.