The Role of Methylation in the Modulation of Intracellular Signaling Pathways

Dear Colleagues,

To respond to an external stimulus, cells take a basic action named intracellular signaling, which is functioning in most biological processes, such as normal development and pathogenesis. While classical signaling cascade is best exemplified with activation by phosphorylation on key proteins in a specific pathway, other types of post-translational modifications, such as methylation, are also involved in the modulation of intracellular signaling pathways.

Methylation on histone proteins has been extensively studied over the past two decades and such methylation directly regulates gene expression and plays important roles in various signaling pathways. In recent years, research has gradually shed light on the role of methylation on non-histone proteins, especially important signaling mediators. Dysregulation of such methylation events also leads to diseases, including cancer.

In addition to proteins, nucleic acids are also important subjects of methylation. DNA methylation has long been indicated to play important roles in early development, while the derivates of DNA methylation, such as DNA hydroxymethylation, are also reported to be involved in neuronal differentiation. Compared with DNA methylation, RNA methylation is much more complex, and different RNA species, including mRNA, tRNA and rRNA, can be extensively methylated and the methylation occurs at different ribonucleotides, such as adenine (A), cytosine (C) and guanine (G). In particular, great progress has been made towards the function and working mechanism of m6A on mRNA, including its role in various signaling pathways.

This research topic aims to present the latest research on the role of methylation in modulating intracellular signaling pathways, either in normal development or during pathogenesis. We welcome original research and reviews that explore, but are not limited to, the following list of themes:

• Methylation of histone proteins in modulating intracellular signaling pathways
• Methylation of non-histone proteins in modulating intracellular signaling pathways
• Methylation of DNA in modulating intracellular signaling pathways
• Methylation of RNA in modulating intracellular signaling pathways
• Methylation of histone, DNA and RNA involved in cancer intracellular signaling pathways.

Dr. Junhong Han
Dr. Gang Yuan
Guest Editors

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• methylation
• histone
• DNA
• RNA
• cancer
• signaling pathway