N<sup>6</sup>-Methyladenosine Directly Regulates CD40L Expression in CD4<sup>+</sup> T Lymphocytes

oleh: Ellen C. N. van Vroonhoven, Lucas W. Picavet, Rianne C. Scholman, Noortje A. M. van den Dungen, Michal Mokry, Anouk Evers, Robert J. Lebbink, Jorg J. A. Calis, Sebastiaan J. Vastert, Jorg van Loosdregt

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-07-01

Deskripsi

T cell activation is a highly regulated process, modulated via the expression of various immune regulatory proteins including cytokines, surface receptors and co-stimulatory proteins. N<sup>6</sup>-methyladenosine (m<sup>6</sup>A) is an RNA modification that can directly regulate RNA expression levels and it is associated with various biological processes. However, the function of m<sup>6</sup>A in T cell activation remains incompletely understood. We identify m<sup>6</sup>A as a novel regulator of the expression of the CD40 ligand (CD40L) in human CD4<sup>+</sup> lymphocytes. Manipulation of the m<sup>6</sup>A ‘eraser’ fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) and m<sup>6</sup>A ‘writer’ protein methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) directly affects the expression of CD40L. The m<sup>6</sup>A ‘reader’ protein YT521-B homology domain family-2 (YTHDF2) is hypothesized to be able to recognize and bind m<sup>6</sup>A specific sequences on the <i>CD40L</i> mRNA and promotes its degradation. This study demonstrates that CD40L expression in human primary CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes is regulated via m<sup>6</sup>A modifications, elucidating a new regulatory mechanism in CD4<sup>+</sup> T cell activation that could possibly be leveraged in the future to modulate T cell responses in patients with immune-related diseases.