The Landscape of m6A Regulators in Multiple Brain Regions of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease research has been conducted for many years, yet no effective cure methods have been found. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation, an essential post-transcriptional regulation mechanism, has been discovered to affect essential neurobiological processes, such as brain cell development and aging, which are closely related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. The relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and the m6A mechanism still needs further investigation. Our work evaluated the alteration profile of m6A regulators and their influences on Alzheimer’s disease in 4 brain regions: the postcentral gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, hippocampus, and entorhinal cortex. We found that the expression levels of the m6A regulators FTO, ELAVL1, and YTHDF2 were altered in Alzheimer’s disease and were related to pathological development and cognitive levels. We also assessed AD-related biological processes influenced by m6A regulators via GSEA and GSVA method. Biological Processes Gene Ontology terms including memory, cognition, and synapse-signaling were found to potentially be affected by m6A regulators in AD. We also found different m6A modification patterns in AD samples among different brain regions, mainly due to differences in m6A readers. Finally, we further evaluated the importance of AD-related regulators based on the WGCNA method, assessed their potential targets based on correlation relationships, and constructed diagnostic models in 3 of all 4 regions using hub regulators, including FTO, YTHDC1, YTHDC2, etc., and their potential targets. This work aims to provide a reference for the follow-up study of m6A and Alzheimer’s disease.