FTO suppresses glycolysis and growth of papillary thyroid cancer via decreasing stability of APOE mRNA in an N6-methyladenosine-dependent manner

BACKGROUND: N6-methyladenosine (m(6)A) modification is the most common chemical modification in mammalian mRNAs, and it plays important roles by regulating several cellular processes. Previous studies report that m(6)A is implicated in modulating tumorigenesis and progression. However, dysregulation of m(6)A modification and effect of m(6)A demethylase fat-mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) on glucose metabolism has not been fully elucidated in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), western blotting and immunohistochemistry were performed to explore the expression profile of FTO in PTC tissues and adjacent non-cancerous thyroid tissues. Effects of FTO on PTC glycolysis and growth were investigated through in vitro and in vivo experiments. Mechanism of FTO-mediated m(6)A modification was explored through transcriptome-sequencing (RNA-seq), methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq), MeRIP-qPCR, luciferase reporter assays, RNA stability assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay. RESULTS: FTO expression was significantly downregulated in PTC tissues. Functional analysis showed that FTO inhibited PTC glycolysis and growth. Further analyses were conducted to explore FTO-mediated m(6)A modification profile in PTC cells and Apolipoprotein E (APOE) was identified as the target gene for FTO-mediated m(6)A modification using RNA-seq and MeRIP-seq. FTO knockdown significantly increased APOE mRNA m(6)A modification and upregulated its expression. FTO-mediated m(6)A modification of APOE mRNA was recognized and stabilized by the m(6)A reader IGF2BP2. The findings showed that APOE also promoted tumor growth through glycolysis in PTC. Analysis showed that FTO/APOE axis inhibits PTC glycolysis by modulating IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: FTO acts as a tumor suppressor to inhibit tumor glycolysis in PTC. The findings of the current study showed that FTO inhibited expression of APOE through IGF2BP2-mediated m(6)A modification and may inhibit glycolytic metabolism in PTC by modulating IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, thus abrogating tumor growth. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-022-02254-z.