Reduced m6A mRNA methylation is correlated with the progression of human cervical cancer

The m(6)A mRNA methylation involves in mRNA splicing, degradation and translation. Recent studies have revealed that reduced m(6)A mRNA methylation might promote cancer development. However, the role of m(6)A mRNA methylation in cervical cancer development remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated the role of m(6)A methylation in cervical cancer in the current study. We first evaluated the m(6)A mRNA methylation level in 286 pairs of cervical cancer samples and their adjacent normal tissues by dot blot assay. Then the role of m(6)A on patient survival rates and cervical cancer progression were assessed. The m(6)A level was significantly reduced in the cervical cancer when comparing with the adjacent normal tissue. The m(6)A level reduction was significantly correlated with the FIGO stage, tumor size, differentiation, lymph invasion and cancer recurrence. It was also shown to be an independent prognostic indicator of disease-free survival and overall survival for patients with cervical cancer. Reducing m(6)A level via manipulating the m(6)A regulators expression promoted cervical cancer cell proliferation. And increasing m(6)A level significantly suppressed tumor development both in vitro and in vivo. Our results showed that the reduced m(6)A level is tightly associated with cervical cancer development and m(6)A mRNA methylation might be a potential therapeutic target in cervical cancer.