Cell type-specific regulation of m6A modified RNAs in the aging Drosophila brain

Abstract

The aging brain is highly vulnerable to cellular stress, and neurons employ numerous mechanisms to combat neurotoxic proteins and promote healthy brain aging. The RNA modification m6A is highly enriched in the Drosophila brain and is critical for the acute heat stress response of the brain. Here we examine m6A in the fly brain with the chronic stresses of aging and degenerative disease. m6A levels dynamically increased with both age and disease in the brain, marking integral neuronal identity and signaling pathway transcripts that decline in level with age and disease. Unexpectedly, there is opposing impact of m6A transcripts in neurons versus glia, which conferred different outcomes on animal health span upon Mettl3 knockdown to reduce m6A: whereas Mettl3 function is normally beneficial to neurons, it is deleterious to glia. Moreover, knockdown of Mettl3 in glial tauopathy reduced tau pathology and increased animal survival. These findings provide mechanistic insight into regulation of m6A modified transcripts with age and disease, highlighting an overall beneficial function of Mettl3 in neurons in response to chronic stresses, versus a deleterious impact in glia.