Researchers identify METTL3 as target for AML

In a paper published in Nature, researchers at the University of Cambridge and Storm Therapeutics Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.) showed that methyltransferase like 3 (METTL3) promotes post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in leukemia, suggesting the RNA-modifying enzyme could be an epigenetic target for acute myelogenous leukemia.

A genome-wide CRISPR dropout screen of mouse primary leukemia cells identified 75 genes encoding RNA-modifying enzymes whose expression is necessary for growth of those cells. By comparing the results to a custom domain-focused guide RNA (gRNA) library in a second screen in mouse AML cells, the researchers identified METTL3 as an essential gene for AML growth...