The Regulatory Role of m6A Modification in Viral Infection of Host Cells
N6-methyladenosine(m6A)is a methylation modification on the 6th nitrogen atom of the RNA molecule adenine,and is the most common post-transcriptional modification in messenger RNA(mRNA)and non-coding RNA(ncRNA).m6A modification plays a crucial role in all stage of RNA cy-cle,including RNA stabilization,splicing,nuclear export,folding,translation and degradation.m6A modification requires the participation of methyltransferase(writers),demethylase(erasers)and m6 A readers.The important roles of m6A modification involved in virus-host interactions have been largely ex-plored based on the rapid development of high-throughput RNA sequencing technology.Studies have shown that m6A modification participates in a variety of viral RNAs,and is associated with viral en-trance,replication and progeny virion release.Viruses can also alter host transcriptome by m6A modifica-tion to impact viral infectivity or host resistance.This review explored the role of m6A modification in re-spiratory virus,retrovirus and herpes virus,etc.infected cells,and the regulatory effects of m6A modifi-cations on viral replication and host immune response.It will help to further clarify the mechanisms of vi-rus-host interactions and benefit the development of antiviral drugs.