skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Structural insights into the RNA methyltransferase domain of METTL16

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Notre Dame, IN (United States)
  2. National Cancer Inst. (NCI), Argonne, IL (United States). Macromolecular Crystallography Lab., Synchrotron Radiation Research Section

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is an abundant modification in messenger RNA and noncoding RNAs that affects RNA metabolism. Methyltransferase-like protein 16 (METTL16) is a recently confirmed m6A RNA methyltransferase that methylates U6 spliceosomal RNA and interacts with the 3'-terminal RNA triple helix of MALAT1 (metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1). Here, we present two X-ray crystal structures of the N-terminal methyltransferase domain (residues 1–291) of human METTL16 (METTL16_291): an apo structure at 1.9 Å resolution and a post-catalytic S-adenosylhomocysteinebound complex at 2.1 Å resolution. The structures revealed a highly conserved Rossmann fold that is characteristic of Class I S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferases and a large, positively charged groove. This groove likely represents the RNA-binding site and it includes structural elements unique to METTL16. In-depth analysis of the active site led to a model of the methyl transfer reaction catalyzed by METTL16. In contrast to the major m6A methyltransferase heterodimer METTL3/ METTL14, full-length METTL16 forms a homodimer and METTL16_291 exists as a monomer based on size-exclusion chromatography. A native gel-shift assay shows that METTL16 binds to the MALAT1 RNA triple helix, but monomeric METTL16_291 does not. Our results provide insights into the molecular structure of METTL16, which is distinct from METTL3/METTL14.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Institutes of Health (NIH); Henry Luce Foundation; National Cancer Institute (NCI); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Grant/Contract Number:
R00GM111430; W-31-109-Eng-38; AC02-06CH11357; 9 P41 GM103622; 1S10OD018090-01
OSTI ID:
1431367
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 72 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (69)

Adenine methylation in eukaryotes: Apprehending the complex evolutionary history and functional potential of an epigenetic modification journal December 2015
The ybiN Gene of Escherichia coli Encodes Adenine-N6 Methyltransferase Specific for Modification of A1618 of 23 S Ribosomal RNA, a Methylated Residue Located Close to the Ribosomal Exit Tunnel journal January 2008
Crystal Structure of Guanidinoacetate Methyltransferase from Rat Liver: A Model Structure of Protein Arginine Methyltransferase journal July 2002
DAMMIF, a program for rapid ab-initio shape determination in small-angle scattering journal January 2009
METT-10, A Putative Methyltransferase, Inhibits Germ Cell Proliferative Fate in Caenorhabditis elegans journal July 2009
Rethinking m 6 A Readers, Writers, and Erasers journal October 2017
New families of human regulatory RNA structures identified by comparative analysis of vertebrate genomes journal October 2011
m 6 A mRNA modifications are deposited in nascent pre-mRNA and are not required for splicing but do specify cytoplasmic turnover journal May 2017
High-throughput protein purification and quality assessment for crystallization journal September 2011
The 3D rRNA modification maps database: with interactive tools for ribosome analysis journal December 2007
Structural insights into the molecular mechanism of the m6A writer complex journal September 2016
ACHESYM : an algorithm and server for standardized placement of macromolecular models in the unit cell journal November 2014
Human METTL16 is a N 6 ‐methyladenosine (m 6 A) methyltransferase that targets pre‐mRNAs and various non‐coding RNAs journal October 2017
Comprehensive Analysis of mRNA Methylation Reveals Enrichment in 3′ UTRs and near Stop Codons journal June 2012
A Role for Dynein in the Inhibition of Germ Cell Proliferative Fate journal September 2009
XDS journal January 2010
UCSF Chimera?A visualization system for exploratory research and analysis journal January 2004
Clustal W and Clustal X version 2.0 journal September 2007
RNA Methylation under Heat Shock Control journal August 2000
Single-nucleotide-resolution mapping of m6A and m6Am throughout the transcriptome journal June 2015
Structure-guided Analysis Reveals Nine Sequence Motifs Conserved among DNA Amino-methyl-transferases, and Suggests a Catalytic Mechanism for these Enzymes journal November 1995
MALAT-1, a novel noncoding RNA, and thymosin β4 predict metastasis and survival in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer journal September 2003
A METTL3–METTL14 complex mediates mammalian nuclear RNA N6-adenosine methylation journal December 2013
Formation of triple-helical structures by the 3'-end sequences of MALAT1 and MEN  noncoding RNAs journal November 2012
N6-methyladenosine-dependent regulation of messenger RNA stability journal November 2013
N6-methyladenosine-dependent RNA structural switches regulate RNA–protein interactions journal February 2015
Methyltransferase-like protein 16 binds the 3′-terminal triple helix of MALAT1 long noncoding RNA journal November 2016
Sequence specificity of the human mRNA N6-adenosine methylase in vitro journal January 1990
FIONA1 Is Essential for Regulating Period Length in the Arabidopsis Circadian Clock journal February 2008
N6-methyl-adenosine modification in messenger and long non-coding RNA journal April 2013
Structural and evolutionary insights into ribosomal RNA methylation journal February 2018
Probing N6-methyladenosine RNA modification status at single nucleotide resolution in mRNA and long noncoding RNA journal October 2013
Structural basis of asymmetric DNA methylation and ATP-triggered long-range diffusion by EcoP15I journal June 2015
Macromolecular TLS Refinement in REFMAC at Moderate Resolutions book January 2003
Many paths to methyltransfer: a chronicle of convergence journal June 2003
Structural basis of N6-adenosine methylation by the METTL3–METTL14 complex journal May 2016
Automated macromolecular model building for X-ray crystallography using ARP/wARP version 7 journal June 2008
Optimal description of a protein structure in terms of multiple groups undergoing TLS motion journal March 2006
ConSurf 2010: calculating evolutionary conservation in sequence and structure of proteins and nucleic acids journal May 2010
The BioCAT undulator beamline 18ID: a facility for biological non-crystalline diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Advanced Photon Source journal August 2004
N6-methyladenosine Modulates Messenger RNA Translation Efficiency journal June 2015
Structure of pvu II DNA-(cytosine N4) methyltransferase, an example of domain permutation and protein fold assignment journal July 1997
Rapid purification of RNAs using fast performance liquid chromatography (FPLC) journal December 2006
Uniqueness of ab initio shape determination in small-angle scattering journal April 2003
Structural Basis for Cooperative Function of Mettl3 and Mettl14 Methyltransferases journal July 2016
Determination of the regularization parameter in indirect-transform methods using perceptual criteria journal August 1992
PRIMUS: a Windows PC-based system for small-angle scattering data analysis journal September 2003
The U6 snRNA m 6 A Methyltransferase METTL16 Regulates SAM Synthetase Intron Retention journal May 2017
PDB2PQR: an automated pipeline for the setup of Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatics calculations journal July 2004
Topology of the human and mouse m6A RNA methylomes revealed by m6A-seq journal April 2012
The 2.2 Å structure of the rRNA methyltransferase ErmC′ and its complexes with cofactor and cofactor analogs: implications for the reaction mechanism journal June 1999
Getting the Adrenaline Going journal October 2001
Hhal methyltransferase flips its target base out of the DNA helix journal January 1994
Hypervalent Nonbonded Interactions of a Divalent Sulfur Atom. Implications in Protein Architecture and the Functions journal June 2012
Structures of the m 6 A Methyltransferase Complex: Two Subunits with Distinct but Coordinated Roles journal July 2016
Improved R-factors for diffraction data analysis in macromolecular crystallography journal April 1997
Use of TLS parameters to model anisotropic displacements in macromolecular refinement journal January 2001
Features and development of Coot journal March 2010
Restoring Low Resolution Structure of Biological Macromolecules from Solution Scattering Using Simulated Annealing journal June 1999
N6-methyladenosine marks primary microRNAs for processing journal March 2015
REFMAC 5 for the refinement of macromolecular crystal structures journal March 2011
New developments in the ATSAS program package for small-angle scattering data analysis journal March 2012
METTL3-mediated maturation of miR-126-5p promotes ovarian cancer progression via PTEN-mediated PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway journal September 2020
Structure, function and mechanism of exocyclic DNA methyltransferases journal September 2006
Structural Chemistry of Human RNA Methyltransferases journal November 2015
MobiDB-lite: fast and highly specific consensus prediction of intrinsic disorder in proteins journal January 2017
S-Adenosylmethionine Synthesis Is Regulated by Selective N6-Adenosine Methylation and mRNA Degradation Involving METTL16 and YTHDC1 journal December 2017
Phaser crystallographic software journal July 2007
The nucleotide sequence of nuclear U6 (4.7 S) RNA. journal September 1980

Cited By (13)

Mapping N 6 ‐Methyladenosine (m 6 A) in RNA: Established Methods, Remaining Challenges, and Emerging Approaches journal January 2019
Novel insights on m6A RNA methylation in tumorigenesis: a double-edged sword journal July 2018
Predict Epitranscriptome Targets and Regulatory Functions of N 6 -Methyladenosine (m 6 A) Writers and Erasers journal January 2019
Identification of m6A residues at single-nucleotide resolution using eCLIP and an accessible custom analysis pipeline journal December 2020
Crystal structure of human cytoplasmic tRNAHis-specific 5′-monomethylphosphate capping enzyme journal January 2020
The role of mRNA m6A methylation in the nervous system journal August 2019
Characterization of METTL16 as a cytoplasmic RNA binding protein journal January 2020
Differences in the fast muscle methylome provide insight into sex-specific epigenetic regulation of growth in Nile tilapia during early stages of domestication journal May 2019
Methylation of Structured RNA by the m6A Writer METTL16 Is Essential for Mouse Embryonic Development journal September 2018
Sequence-specific m 6 A demethylation in RNA by FTO fused to RCas9 journal July 2019
The human 18S rRNA m6A methyltransferase METTL5 is stabilized by TRMT112 journal July 2019
Crystal structure of ErmE - 23S rRNA methyltransferase in macrolide resistance journal October 2019
Bisubstrate analogues as structural tools to investigate m 6 A methyltransferase active sites journal March 2019

Similar Records

Structural Basis for Cooperative Function of Mettl3 and Mettl14 Methyltransferases
Journal Article · Thu Jun 30 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Molecular Cell · OSTI ID:1431367

MiR-33a suppresses proliferation of NSCLC cells via targeting METTL3 mRNA
Journal Article · Sun Jan 22 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · OSTI ID:1431367

m6A demethylase FTO facilitates tumor progression in lung squamous cell carcinoma by regulating MZF1 expression
Journal Article · Wed Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · OSTI ID:1431367