RNA Methyltransferase METTL14 Promotes Breast Cancer Growth and Progression

We investigated the role of RNA N6-adenosine methyltransferase protein METTL14 that supports breast cancer growth and progression, and we showed METTL14 knockdown inhibited long-term survival, migration as well as invasion of breast cancer cells. Overall design: To understand the mechanism by which METTL14 may promote breast cancer growth, we performed RNA-seq analyses on METTL14 siRNA-transfected breast cancer cells (2x MDA-MB-231), comparing to cells transfected with scramble siRNAs (2 replicates). Interestingly, several genes known to be associated with oncogenic pathways were found to be significantly altered in METTL14-silenced breast cancer cells, including transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFß1), smad3, cyclin D1 and cyclin E1.