5-methylcytosine modification by Plasmodium NSUN2 stabilizes mRNA and mediates the development of gametocytes

著者: Meng Liu, Gangqiang Guo, Pengge Qian, Jianbing Mu, Binbin Lu, Xiaoqin He, Yanting Fan, Xiaomin Shang, Guang Yang, Shijun Shen, Wenju Liu, Liping Wang, Liang Gu, Quankai Mu, Xinyu Yu, Yuemeng Zhao, Richard Culleton, Jun Cao, Lubin Jiang, Thomas E. Wellems, Jing Yuan, Cizhong Jiang, Qingfeng Zhang - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS 2022 被引用: 29

Significance Modifications of RNA, including methylations of cytosine (m 5 C) and adenosine (m 6 A), have important roles in RNA metabolism, cellular responses to stress, and biological processes of differentiation and development. We report on the profiles of m 5 C messenger RNA (mRNA) modifications in malaria parasites that infect rodents ( Plasmodium yoelii ) and humans ( Plasmodium falciparum ). These parasites have genes that encode homologs of human and plant NSUN2 methyltransferases (m 5 C “writers”). We show that one of these homologs, termed PyNSUN2, stabilizes mRNA transcripts in P. yoelii and mediates m 5 C-associated development of the parasite sexual stages (gametocytes). Further research on m 5 C and other epitranscriptomic modifications may yield new insights into molecular pathways of gametocyte development and mosquito infectivity that can be exploited to interrupt malaria transmission.