N7-methylguanosine methylation of tRNAs regulates survival to stress in cancer

Tumour progression and therapy tolerance are highly regulated and complex processes largely dependent on the plasticity of cancer cells and their capacity to respond to stress. The higher plasticity of cancer cells highlights the need for identifying targetable molecular pathways that challenge cancer cell survival. Here, we show that N(7)-guanosine methylation (m(7)G) of tRNAs, mediated by METTL1, regulates survival to stress conditions in cancer cells. Mechanistically, we find that m(7)G in tRNAs protects them from stress-induced cleavage and processing into 5’ tRNA fragments. Our analyses reveal that the loss of tRNA m(7)G methylation activates stress response pathways, sensitising cancer cells to stress. Furthermore, we find that the loss of METTL1 reduces tumour growth and increases cytotoxic stress in vivo. Our study uncovers the role of m(7)G methylation of tRNAs in stress responses and highlights the potential of targeting METTL1 to sensitise cancer cells to chemotherapy.