PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hyunjoon Kim
AU  - Soohyun Jang
AU  - Young-suk Lee
TI  - The m6A(m)-independent role of FTO in regulating WNT signaling pathways
AID  - 10.26508/lsa.202101250
DP  - 2022 May 01
TA  - Life Science Alliance
PG  - e202101250
VI  - 5
IP  - 5
4099  - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/5/5/e202101250.short
4100  - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/5/5/e202101250.full
SO  - Life Sci. Alliance2022 May 01; 5
AB  - FTO and ALKBH5 are the two enzymes responsible for mRNA demethylation. Hence, the functional study of FTO has been focused on its mechanistic role in dynamic mRNA modification, and how this post-transcriptional regulation modulates signaling pathways. Here, we report that the functional landscape of FTO is largely associated with WNT signaling pathways but in a manner that is independent of its enzymatic activity. Re-analyses of public datasets identified the bifurcation of canonical and noncanonical WNT pathways as the major role of FTO. In FTO-depleted cells, we find that the canonical WNT/β-Catenin signaling is attenuated in a non-cell autonomous manner via the up-regulation of DKK1. Simultaneously, this up-regulation of DKK1 promotes cell migration via activating the noncanonical WNT/PCP pathway. Unexpectedly, this regulation of DKK1 is independent of its RNA methylation status but operates at the transcriptional level, revealing a noncanonical function of FTO in gene regulation. In conclusion, this study places the functional context of FTO at the branch point of multiple WNT signaling pathways and extends its mechanistic role in gene regulation.