bioRxivJClub
Metabolic stress reveals widespread accumulation of cap-unmethylated RNAs
bioRxiv · · Preprint · Open access
Xing, Sutter + 4 more
Abstract ↗AI summary
The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
Cap-unmethylated mRNAs accumulate in yeast and mammalian cells under SAM-limiting and other stress conditions, revealing a substantial stress-linked population lacking N7-methylguanosine cap methylation.
- Why it matters: Cap methylation was long treated as constitutive, but metabolic stress may frequently occur across organisms, leaving a gap in how this modification responds and regulates gene expression.
- What they did: The authors developed a mass spectrometry-based method and two transcriptome-wide approaches to map cap methylation changes and test links to histone H3K36me3 and stress-responsive MAPK signaling pathways.
- The result: Unmethylated mRNAs remain polyadenylated, exported to cytosol, and translated, and enforced cap methylation reduces cell growth under SAM limitation, implying an adaptive advantage for unmethylated mRNAs during stress.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
- Open access