REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Epigenomics and Epigenetics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1623276
Research progress on NAT10-mediated acetylation in normal development and disease
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Thoracic Surgery II, Organ Transplantation Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
- 2Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Transplantation of Ministry of Education, Stem Cell and Cancer Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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N4-acetylcytidine(ac4C) is an evolutionarily conserved RNA modification catalyzed by the acetyltransferase NAT10. It regulates RNA stability, translation, and post-transcriptional processes. Meanwhile, NAT10 functions as a dual-function enzyme exhibiting both protein acetyltransferase and RNA acetylase activities. This review summarizes the structural and functional roles of NAT10-mediated acetylation in physiological contexts, including cell division, differentiation, inflammation，aging, and viral infection, as well as its emerging roles in cancer. In malignancies, NAT10mediated acetylation drives tumor progression by enhancing mRNA stability, regulating cell cycle ， promoting metastasis, suppressing ferroptosis, modulating metabolism, influencing p53 activity，mediating immune escape and fostering drug resistance. Interactions between NAT10 and non-coding RNAs further amplify its oncogenic effects. Unresolved questions, such as microbiota-mediated ac4C regulation and NAT10's impact on the tumor immune microenvironment, highlight future research directions. Targeting NAT10 and ac4C modification presents promising therapeutic opportunities, with advanced technologies like single-cell sequencing poised to refine epitranscriptome-based interventions.
Keywords: NAT10, AC4C, RNA modification, Cancer, Therapeutic target, Epitranscriptomics
Received: 05 May 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qin, Liu, Ma, Wang, Lu, Yang, Tang and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ze Tang, Department of Thoracic Surgery II, Organ Transplantation Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
Yanbo Zhu, Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Transplantation of Ministry of Education, Stem Cell and Cancer Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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