RNA methylation in acute kidney injury: opening up new therapeutic avenues.

Abstract

RNA methylation has emerged as a potent regulator of multiple cellular processes, including stress responses, metabolism, growth, and differentiation. Xie et al. demonstrate that epithelial methyltransferase-like 1, which methylates RNA guanosine residues, promotes mitochondrial dysfunction, tubular injury, and inflammation in acute kidney injury. The authors propose a model by which methyltransferase-like 1 increases the activity of TEA domain transcription factor 2 through methylation, identifying the methyltransferase-like 1/TEA domain transcription factor 2 axis as a potential therapeutic target for renoprotection.