The methyltransferase METTL3 promotes tumorigenesis via mediating HHLA2 mRNA m6A modification in human renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: As an important N6-methyladenosine (m(6)A) regulator, abnormal expression of methyltransferase-like protein 3 (METTL3) has been reported in certain human cancers. Although some data have shown that METTL3 plays an essential role in the progression of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma RCC (ccRCC), the detailed mechanism still remains largely undetermined. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay was used to examine the expression of METTL3 and its clinical implications in human ccRCC by using tissue-microarray (TMA). The cellular models based on ccRCC cell lines such as 786-O and ACHN, were established by operating METTL3 and HHLA2 via knockdown or overexpression, followed by in vitro cellular function studies and in vivo subcutaneous transplantation tumor model. RESULTS: We found that METTL3 expression in ccRCC tissues was significantly higher compared with adjacent normal tissues. We also found the overall survival (OS) of the patients with low METTL3 expression was significantly better compared with the patients with high METTL3 expression. Furthermore, HHLA2(high)METTL3(high) could serve as a better prognostic predictor for ccRCC patients. Depletion of METTL3 could significantly inhibit the cell viability, migration, and invasion abilities in ccRCC cell lines. Cellular studies further revealed that METTL3 could regulate HHLA2 expression via m(6)A modification of HHLA2 mRNA. In vitro studies revealed that HHLA2 overexpression could reverse the inhibition of cellular functions mediated by METTL3 depletion. The subcutaneous transplantation tumor model confirmed that HHLA2 overexpression could reverse the inhibition of tumor growth mediated by METTL3 depletion. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that METTL3 served as an important prognostic predictor for ccRCC patients, and we demonstrated a novel regulatory mechanism of HHLA2 by mRNA epigenetic modification via METTL3. Moreover, we found that the METTL3/HHLA2 axis could promote tumorigenesis of ccRCC. Collectively, our current findings provided new insights into the therapeutic strategy against this malignancy targeting METTL3. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03496-3.