ADAR1 is a new target of METTL3 and plays a pro-oncogenic role in glioblastoma by an editing-independent mechanism

BACKGROUND: N(6)-methyladenosine (m6A) and adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing are two of the most abundant RNA modification events affecting adenosines in mammals. Both these RNA modifications determine mRNA fate and play a pivotal role in tumor development and progression. RESULTS: Here, we show that METTL3, upregulated in glioblastoma, methylates ADAR1 mRNA and increases its protein level leading to a pro-tumorigenic mechanism connecting METTL3, YTHDF1, and ADAR1. We show that ADAR1 plays a cancer-promoting role independently of its deaminase activity by binding CDK2 mRNA, underlining the importance of ADARs as essential RNA-binding proteins for cell homeostasis as well as cancer progression. Additionally, we show that ADAR1 knockdown is sufficient to strongly inhibit glioblastoma growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Hence, our findings underscore METTL3/ADAR1 axis as a novel crucial pathway in cancer progression that connects m6A and A-to-I editing post-transcriptional events. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13059-021-02271-9.