m6A-driven NAT10 translation facilitates fatty acid metabolic rewiring to suppress ferroptosis and promote ovarian tumorigenesis through enhancing ACOT7 mRNA acetylation

Abstract

RNA epigenetic modifications have been implicated in cancer progression. However, the interplay between distinct RNA modifications and its role in cancer metabolism remain largely unexplored. Our study demonstrates that N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) is notably upregulated in ovarian cancer (OC), correlating with poor patient prognosis. IGF2BP1 enhances the translation of NAT10 mRNA in an m6A-dependent manner in OC cells. NAT10 drives tumorigenesis by mediating N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) modification of ACOT7 mRNA, thereby augmenting its stability and translation. This NAT10-ACOT7 axis modulates fatty acid metabolism in cancer cells and promotes tumor progression by suppressing ferroptosis. Additionally, our research identifies fludarabine as a small molecule inhibitor targeting NAT10, inhibits the ac4C modification and expression of ACOT7 mRNA. By using cell derived xenograft model and patient derived organoid model, we show that fludarabine effectively suppresses ovarian tumorigenesis. Overall, our study highlights the pivotal role of the NAT10-ACOT7 axis in the malignant cancer progression, underscoring the potential of targeting NAT10-mediated ac4C modification as a viable therapeutic strategy for this disease.