The roles of N6-methyladenosine methylation in the regulation of bone development, bone remodeling and osteoporosis

N6-methyladenosine (m6A), a novel epitranscriptomic RNA modification, plays crucial roles in a variety of biological processes and diseases. Recently, there are growing evidence supporting that m6A methylation is essential for bone development and homeostasis through the regulation of key genes by regulating RNA stability, localization, turnover and translation efficiency. In this review, we summarized our current understanding of the functional roles of m6A methylation and its related regulators in bone development and bone remodeling. These findings will offer new directions and insights on the further investigations of m6A methylation in bone biology. Moreover, we also discussed important advances of m6A methylation related regulators as potential therapeutic targets, which allows for novel therapeutic strategies on the medications of bone-related diseases including osteoporosis.