LAUSR

N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) modification is an abundant and conservative RNA modification in bacterial and eukaryotic cells. m6A modification mainly occurs in the 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) and near the stop codons of mRNA. Diverse strategies have been developed for identifying m6A sites in single nucleotide resolution. Dynamic regulation of m6A is found in metabolism, embryogenesis, and developmental processes, indicating a possible epigenetic regulation role along RNA processing and exerting biological functions. It has been known that m6A editing involves in nuclear RNA export, mRNA degradation, protein translation, and RNA splicing. Deficiency of m6A modification will lead to kinds of diseases, such as obesity, cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), infertility, and developmental arrest. Some specific inhibitors against methyltransferase and demethylase have been developed to selectively regulate m6A modification, which may be advantageous for treatment of m6A related diseases. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 2534–2543, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.