Longevity & AgingLiver Cancer Risk Linked to Faulty Cysteine Metabolism Through METTL14 Gene
Researchers at Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital used a mouse model with liver-specific deletion of METTL14 — an enzyme that adds m6A methylation marks to RNA — to study how this affects fatty liver disease and liver cancer. They found that losing METTL14 reduces methylation of SLC7A11 mRNA, a transporter responsible for importing cystine into cells. Without sufficient cystine uptake, cells cannot synthesize glutathione (GSH), the body's primary antioxidant. This leads to oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, lipid peroxidation, and cell death, accelerating both NAFLD and diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocellular carcinoma. The study identifies the METTL14-SLC7A11-cysteine-GSH axis as a novel therapeutic target for these serious liver conditions.
