METTL3 promotes the growth and metastasis of pancreatic cancer by regulating the m6A modification and stability of E2F5

Pancreatic cancer belongs to lethal cancer with limited efficient treatment currently, and its main cause of death is rapid tumor growth and early metastasis. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is a new method of epigenetic gene regulation involved in tumor progression, in which methyltransferase-like 3(METTL3) is the sole catalytic subunit. However, the role of METTL3 in pancreatic cancer remains to be explored.m6A level was measured using MeRIP assay, and RT-qPCR and western blot were applied to determine mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Cellular behaviors were detected using CCK-8, EdU, wound healing and transwell assays. Xenograft assays were conducted to further verify the roles of METTL3 in pancreatic cancer.METTL3 was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer. However, downregulation of METTL3 restrained the viability, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. Moreover, E2F5 was found to be positively regulated by METTL3. Intriguingly, the anti-tumor functions of METTL3 knockdown in the phenotype of pancreatic cancer cells were overturned by overexpression of E2F5. Silencing METTL3 resulted in the decreased stability of E2F5 by methylating E2F5.In conclusion, METTL3 can promote the malignant progression of pancreatic cancer by modifying E2F5 through m6A methylation to promote its stability.