RNA Methylation and Mental Health: Emerging Molecular Insights
A special issue of Epigenomes (ISSN 2075-4655).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 16
Special Issue Editor
2. Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, 72 East Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118-2526, USA
Interests: genetics; epigenetics; psychiatric disorders; substance use disorders
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
RNA methylation, particularly N6-methyladenosine (m6A), has emerged as a key epigenetic mechanism regulating gene expression in the nervous system. By modulating RNA splicing, stability, translation, and localization, m6A and other modifications, such as N1-methyladenosine (m1A) and 5-methylcytosine (m5C), shape neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, and neurocircuit function. These processes are essential for cognition, emotion regulation, and stress responses.
Recent studies have revealed that the dysregulation of RNA methylation “writers” (e.g., METTL3, METTL14), “erasers” (e.g., FTO, ALKBH5), and “readers” (e.g., YTH domain proteins) is linked to psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Aberrant methylation patterns can alter neural gene expression programs, impair neurotransmission, and disrupt stress-adaptive pathways, contributing to disease susceptibility and symptom progression.
Advances in high-throughput sequencing and methylation mapping have enabled the precise profiling of RNA modifications in human brain tissue and disease models, uncovering disorder-specific signatures. These findings highlight RNA methylation regulators as promising biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets. The pharmacological modulation of RNA methylation machinery may open new avenues for precision psychiatry, offering treatments that target underlying molecular dysfunctions rather than symptoms alone.
This Special Issue highlights research and review articles that advance our understanding of the role of the epitranscriptome or RNA methylation in mental disorders.
Dr. Huiping Zhang
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- mental health
- mental disorders
- epitranscriptome
- RNA methylation
- m6A modification
- m6A writers
- m6A erasers
- m6A readers
- RNA methylation mapping
- gene expression regulation
- biomarker
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