Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41218124›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025

METTL3-dependent m6A RNA methylation suppresses aberrant mammary epithelial differentiation and neoplastic transformation.

Yihao Li, Xintao Qiu, Zachary Sandusky, Kaitlin Tagliaferri, Rong Li, Xin Yang, Tao Zhang, Shimeng Liu, Pengze Yan, Feng Lu and 12 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. mNature communications · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

22 authors.

Yihao Li *Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Xintao Qiu *Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Zachary Sandusky *Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Kaitlin TagliaferriLudwig Center at Harvard, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
Rong LiDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Xin YangDepartment of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605.
Tao ZhangDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Shimeng LiuDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Pengze YanDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.ORCID 0000-0001-8142-0944
Feng LuDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Marcus JonesDepartment of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
Tengfei XiaoDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Wei LiCenter for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC 20010.
Seth GoldmanDepartment of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
Jie CuiShanghai Sci-Tech Inno Center for Infection and Immunity, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Institute of Infection and Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.ORCID 0000-0001-8176-9951
Kornelia PolyakDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.ORCID 0000-0002-5964-0382
X Shirley LiuCenter for Functional Cancer Epigenetics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Henry W LongDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Richard I GregoryDepartment of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605.ORCID 0000-0001-8090-8673
Karen AdelmanLudwig Center at Harvard, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
Jennifer M RosenbluthDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Myles BrownDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.ORCID 0000-0002-8213-1658

Funding

Tissue and Pathology CoreP50CA168504 · NCI · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · PI Nabihah Tayob · 2013 to 2026
$30.1M
Tissue and Pathology CoreP01CA250959 · NCI · DANA-FARBER CANCER INST · PI BROWN, MYLES A · 2020 to 2024
$8.6M
Role of the Epitranscriptome in CancerR35CA232115 · NCI · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · PI GREGORY, RICHARD I. · 2019 to 2025
$7.2M
HHS | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI) CA232115HHS | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI) CA250959NCI NIH HHS P01 CA250959NCI NIH HHS P50 CA168504NCI NIH HHS R35 CA232115Susan G. Komen (SGK) SAC232143
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mechanisms underlying sustained proliferation and aberrant cellular plasticity that drive early breast tumorigenesis remain unclear. Using CRISPR knockout (KO) screens, we systematically characterized the regulators of cellular fitness in the normal mammary epithelium. We found that loss of METTL3 stimulates mammary epithelial proliferation and reprograms gene expression in an m6A methyltransferase-dependent manner. Single-cell analysis in normal breast organoids revealed that METTL3 ablation causes disruption of the mammary cellular hierarchy through increased aberrant luminal differentiation. Mechanistically, METTL3 loss reduces RNA m6A modification of transcribed transposable elements leading to their increased expression and upregulation of interferon-STAT signaling. This inflammatory response leads to cross talk between STAT and GATA3 transcription factors, resulting in transcriptional activation of luminal genes in the mammary epithelium. These findings identify a cell-intrinsic epigenetic loop contributing to mammary epithelial differentiation and highlight a potential role of loss of METTL3-dependent m6A modification during neoplastic transformation.

Indexed as

AdenosineBreast NeoplasmsCell DifferentiationCell Transformation, NeoplasticMammary Glands, AnimalMethyltransferasesRNAAnimalsCell ProliferationEpithelial CellsFemaleGATA3 Transcription FactorGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMammary Glands, HumanMethylationAdenosineGATA3 Transcription FactorMethyltransferasesMETTL3 protein, humanMettl3 protein, mouseN-methyladenosineRNAbreast cancerepitranscriptomicsmammary developmentRNA methylationtransposable elements

Identifiers

PMID41218124
PMCPMC12646209

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.