AUTHOR=Chen Xiaoting , Huang Lanlan , Yang Tingting , Xu Jiexuan , Zhang Chengyong , Deng Zhendong , Yang Xiaorong , Liu Naihua , Chen Size , Lin Shaoqiang 

TITLE=METTL3 Promotes Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Metastasis Through Enhancing GLS2 Expression

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.667451

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2021.667451

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p>Recent studies have identified pleiotropic roles of methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) in tumor progression. However, the roles of METTL3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are still unclear. Here, we investigated the function and mechanism of METTL3 in ESCC tumorigenesis. We reported that higher METTL3 expression was found in ESCC tissues and was markedly associated with depth of invasion and poor prognosis. Loss- and gain-of function studies showed that METTL3 promoted the migration and invasion of ESCC cells <italic>in vitro</italic>. Integrated methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-Seq) and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis first demonstrated that glutaminase 2 (GLS2) was regulated by METTL3 <italic>via</italic> m6A modification. Our findings identified METTL3/GLS2 signaling as a potential therapeutic target in antimetastatic strategies against ESCC.</p>