Systematic assessment of transcriptomic and metabolic reprogramming by blue light exposure coupled with aging

The prevalent use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) has caused revolutionary changes in modern life, but the potential hazards to health of blue light are poorly understood. N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) is the most prevalent posttranscriptional modification in eukaryotes and can modulate diverse physiological processes by regulating mRNA fate. Here, to understand the effects and molecular mechanisms of daily low-intensity blue light exposure (BLE) and ascertain whether m(6)A methylation plays a role in BLE-induced phenotypes, we constructed a series of Drosophila models under different durations of daily low-intensity BLE and obtained multiomics profiles. Our results revealed that BLE could induce transcriptomic, m(6)A epitranscriptomic, and metabolomic reprogramming in Drosophila along with aging process. Importantly, the m(6)A methylation sites enriched in the 5′ untranslated regions (UTRs) of Drosophila transcripts showed strong age specificity and could be altered by BLE. We experimentally validated that aging-related gene Tor and circadian rhythm-related gene per were regulated by 5′ UTR-enriched m(6)A methylation. Overall, our study provides a systematic assessment of m(6)A RNA methylome reprogramming by BLE and aging in Drosophila model.