Next Generation Sequencing Facilitates Quantitative Analysis of SMMC7721 shYTHDF2 and shCtrl transcriptomes.

Dynamic N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification was previously identified as a ubiquitous post-transcriptional regulation that affected mRNA homeostasis. However, the m6A-related epitranscriptomic alterations and functions remain elusive in human diseases such as cancer. Here we show that hypoxia restrains the 'reader' protein YTH domain family 2 (YTHDF2), to stabilize the methylated oncogene mRNAs in inflammation-associated liver cancer. YTHDF2 silenced in human cancer cells or depleted in mouse hepatocytes evoked pro-inflammatory responses and accelerated tumor growth and metastatic progression. Under hypoxia, YTHDF2 processed the decay of m6A-containing interleukin 11 (IL11) and serpin family E member 2 (SERPINE2) mRNAs, which were responsible for the inflammation-mediated malignancy. Reciprocally, YTHDF2 transcription succumbed to hypoxia-inducible factor-2a (HIF-2a). Administration of a HIF-2a antagonist (PT2385) restored YTHDF2-programed epigenetic machinery and repressed liver cancer. Hence, our findings provide a new insight into the mechanism by which hypoxia adapts m6A-mRNA editing to promote cancer. Overall design: mRNA profile of SMMC7721-shYTHDF2 and SMMC7721-shCtrl were generated by deep sequencing.