On June 13th, Prof. YOON Ki-Jun of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) visited City University of Hong Kong and delivered a lecture titled “Regulation of Neural Epitranscriptome During Neuronal Differentiation and Synaptogenesis” where he shared his research on mRNA methylation.
Prof. Yoon’s lecture focused on the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression through the control of mRNA metabolism. His work examines the modulation of mRNAs through m6A methylation during neural development. Mediated by the methyltransferases METLL3 and METLL14, m6A mRNA methylation affects various mRNA processing pathways. His work revealed the role of m6A in neural development through YTHDF2, an m6A reader protein that binds methylated mRNAs to form a degradation complex. His laboratory has demonstrated that m6A depletion extends mRNA lifespan, and m6A methylation is crucial for regulating the degradation of selective mRNAs in developing neurons.
Besides controlling mRNA stability, he showed that YTHDF2 is involved in the formation of RNA transport complex. Utilizing METLL14 knock out models, he has demonstrated that m6A depletion disrupts RNA granule translocation and reduces axonal abundance of m6A-tagged mRNAs.
Lastly, Prof. Yoon discussed the role of mixed tailing in stabilizing mRNA via inhibition of deadenylation at the 3’-untranslated region of mRNAs, demonstrating the importance of the poly-A tails as a key post-transcriptional event in brain development.
Prof. Yoon’s talk was enthusiastically received by the audience including a rich discussion following the seminar.
