Table 1 The role of m⁶A regulators in different cancers

 METTL3

GBC^a

Oncogene

SOX2

Enhances the stemness of GSCs by facilitating expression of SOX2

[58]

SRSFs

Enhances the stemness of GSCs by increasing the NMD of SRSFs in YTHDC1-dependent way

[59]

Antioncogene

ADAM19

Inhibits the stemness of GSCs by promoting the expression of ADAM19

[60, 61]

LC

Oncogene

EGFR TAZ MK2 DNMT3

Enhances the stemness of LC stem cells by promoting expression of EGFR, TAZ, MK2 and DNMT3

[53]

VASH1

Promotes brain metastasis of LC by inhibiting the expression of VASH1 via up-regulated miR-143-3p

[70]

HCC

Oncogene

SOCS2

Increases the decay of tumor suppressor SOCS2 via YTHDF2 in m⁶A-dependent way

[76]

Snail

Promotes the progress of EMT by regulating the expression of Snail in YTHDC1-dependent way

[77]

HDGF

Up-regulates the level of LINC00958 and promotes the expression of HDGF by inhibiting miR-3619-5p

[78]

GC

Oncogene

MYC

Enhances the expression of oncogene MYC

[86]

Bcl2

Inhibits the apoptosis of GC cells by up-regulating the expression of Bcl2 via competitive inhibition with Bax

[10]

SEC62

Promotes the expression of SEC62 with the help of IGF2BP1

[88]

HDFG

Promotes the expression of HDFG with the help of IGF2BP3

[89]

CRC^a

Oncogene

SOX2

Enhances the proliferation of CRC cells by facilitating expression of SOX2 in a m⁶A-IGF2BP2-dependent mechanism

[92, 93]

Antioncogene

?

Inhibits the proliferation, metastasis in CRC by suppressing the p38/ERK signaling pathways

[94]

ccRCC

Antioncogene

NANOG

Inhibits the stemness of ccRCC cells by reducing the expression of NANOG

[103]

VHL

Inhibits the stemness of ccRCC cells by up-regulating the expression of VHL and reducing the level of HIF-α

[103]

BC

Oncogene

SETD7 KLF4

Facilitates the degradation of tumor suppressor m⁶A-modified SETD7 mRNA and m⁶A-modified KLF4 mRNA in YTHDF2-dependent way

[110]

ITGA6

Promotes the expression of oncogene ITGA6 in YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 dependent way

[111]

EC

Antioncogene

PHLPP2 mTORC

Promotes the excessive activation of AKT by reducing expression of PHLPP2 and increasing expression of mTORC

[116]

OC

Oncogene

RHPN1-AS1

Promotes the expression of RHPN1-AS1 and activates FAK/PI3K/Akt pathway

[117]

Breast cancer^a

Antioncogene

NANOG

Inhibits the stemness of BCSCs by reducing the translation of NANOG

[119]

KLF4

Inhibits the stemness of BCSCs by reducing the translation of KLF4

[119]

Oncogene

HBXIP

Enhances the stemness of BCSCs by increasing the expression of HBXIP

[120]

MAGI3

switches the role of MAGI3 from antioncogene to an oncogene in m⁶A-dependent way

[121]

Bcl2

Promotes the expression of Bcl2

[122]

AML

Oncogene

SP1 c-MYC

Promotes the expression of SP1 and enhance its function to activate oncogene c-MYC

[127]

Oncogene

Bcl2 PTEN

Promotes the proliferation of leukemia cells and inhibits their differentiation by enhancing expression of Bcl2, PTEN

[128]

 METTL14

GBC

Antioncogene

ADAM19

Inhibits the stemness of GSCs by promoting the expression of ADAM19

[60, 61]

HCC^a

Antioncogene

miR126

Inhibits the metastasis and relapse of HCC by promoting the mature of tumor suppressor miR126 with the aid of DGCR8

[83]

CRC

Antioncogene

Inhibits the proliferation and metastasis of CRC by up-regulating the m⁶A level of lncRNA XIST and facilitates its degradation

[95]

ccRCC

Antioncogene

NANOG

Inhibits the stemness of ccRCC cells by reducing the expression of NANOG

[103]

VHL

Inhibits the stemness of ccRCC cells by up-regulating the expression of VHL and reducing the level of HIF-α

[103]

BC

Antioncogene

Notch-1

Inhibits the self-renewal of TICs by reducing the expression of Notch-1

[112]

AML

Oncogene

MYB MYC

Promotes the expression of MYB and MYC

[129]

 WTAP

HCC

Oncogene

ETS1

Inhibits the expression of HCC suppressor ETS1 with the help of HuR

[79]

ccRCC

Oncogene

CDK2

Promotes the metastasis by increasing the expression of CDK2

[8]

 VIRMA

HCC

Oncogene

ID2

Promotes the migration by decreasing the expression of ID2

[80]

GATA3

Promotes decay of GATA3 by inducing the separation of HuR

[81]

Prostate cancer

Oncogene

CCAT1, CCAT2

Enhances malignant phenotype and the translation of lncRNAs CCAT1, CCAT2

[106]

Breast cancer

Oncogene

CDK1

Enhances the expression of CDK1

[123]

 FTO

GBC

Oncogene

ADAM19

Enhances the stemness of GSCs by promoting the expression of ADAM19

[58]

LC^a

Oncogene

LAMC2 TSP1 VGF ITGα11 PCSK9

Enhances the stemness of lung cancer stem cells by promoting expression of LAMC2, TSP1, VGF, ITGα and PCSK9

[67]

HCC

Oncogene

PK2

Promotes the expression of PK2 by demethylation

[82]

Pancreatic cancer

Oncogene

MYC,bHLH-TF

Promotes the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells by increasing expression of MYC, bHLH-TF

[98]

ccRCC

Antioncogene

?

?

[104]

CC

Oncogene

?

Enhances the resistance to chemoradiotherapy by inhibiting the translation of β-catenin mRNA

[115]

AML

Oncogene

RARα ASB2

Inhibits differentiation of AML cells and promotes resistant to ATRA by enhancing the expression of RARα and ASB2

[126]

Oncogene

MYC CRBPA

Reduces the degradation of MYC and CRBPA in YTHDF2-dependent way

[130]

 ALKBH5

GBC

Oncogene

ADAM19 FOXM1

Enhances the stemness of GSCs by promoting the expression of ADAM19 and FOXM1

[33, 58, 62]

LC

Oncogene

FOXM1

Enhances the stemness of GSCs by promoting the expression of FOXM1

[33, 62, 69]

GC

Oncogene

NEAT1

Promotes the metastasis by increasing the expression of NEAT1

[90]

ccRCC^a

Oncogene

NANOG

Promotes the stemness of ccRCC cells by increasing the expression of NANOG

[103]

VHL

Promotes the stemness of ccRCC cells by silencing VHL and increases the level of HIF-α

[103]

Antioncogene

?

?

[104]

CC

Antioncogene

GAS5

Inhibits the decay of tumor suppressor GAS5 by interacting with lncRNA GAS5-AS1 in YTHDF2-dependent way

[114]

Breast cancer

Oncogene

NANOG

Enhances the stemness of BCSCs by promoting expression of NANOG

[118, 119]

KLF4

Enhances the stemness of BCSCs by promoting the expression of KLF4

[119]

AML^a

Oncogene

TACC3 AXL

Promotes self-renewal of LSCs/LICs via ALKBH5/m⁶A/TACC3 axis and KDM4C/ALKBH5/AXL axis

[132, 133]

Antioncogene

TP53

Inhibits the mutation of TP53

[131]

 YTHDF1

CRC

Oncogene

?

Promotes the proliferation of CRC cells by activating the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway

[96]

BC

Oncogene

ITGA6

Promotes the translation of ITGA6 by enhancing its stability

[111]

EC

Antioncogene

PHLPP2

Keeps the balance of AKT pathway by promoting the expression of PHLPP2

[116]

 YTHDF2

HCC^a

Oncogene

SOCS2

Facilitates the degradation of tumor suppressor m⁶A-modified SOCS2 mRNA and down-regulate its expression

[76]

Antioncogene

IL11 SERPINE2

Improves the microenvironment by accelerating the degradation of IL11, SERPINE2

[84]

CRC

Antioncogene

XIST

Inhibits the proliferation and metastasis of CRC by facilitating the degradation of m⁶A-modified lncRNA XIST

[95]

Pancreatic cancer

Oncogene

?

Promotes the progression of EMT by regulating the YAP signaling pathway and inhibits the metastasis of pancreatic cancer

[100]

Prostate cancer

Oncogene

?

Promotes the proliferation of prostate cancer cells and accelerates metastasis by?

[107]

CC

Oncogene

GAS5

Promotes the degradation of tumor suppressor GAS5

[114]

EC

Antioncogene

mTORC

Keeps the balance of AKT pathway by promoting the decay of mTORC

[116]

AML

Antioncogene

MYC CRBPA

Accelerates the degradation of MYC CRBPA

[130]

 YTHDF3

BC

Oncogene

ITGA6

Promotes the translation of ITGA6 by enhancing its stability

[111]

CRC

Oncogene

Facilitates the progression of CRC by the negative function loop of lncRNA GAS5-YAP-YTHDF3 axis

[97]

 YTHDC1

GBC

Oncogene

SRSFs

Enhances the stemness of GSCs by promoting the decay of m6A-modified SRSFs mRNA

[59]

Oncogene

Snail

Promotes the progression of EMT by regulating the expression of Snail

[77]

 IGF2BPs

HCC

Oncogene

MYC

Promotes the expression of oncogene MYC by enhcancing its stability

[51]

GC

Oncogene

SEC62

Promotes the translation of m6A-modified SEC62 mRNA by enhancing its stability

[88]

HDFG

Promotes the translation of m6A-modified HDGF mRNA by enhancing its stability

[89]

Pancreatic cancer

Oncogene

DANCR

Enhances the stemness of pancreatic cancer cells by up-regulating the expression of DANCR

[99]

 METTL3

LC

Oncogene

BRD4

Promotes the expression of oncogene BRD4 by interacting with eIF3h

[71]