2. Academic Validation
  3. Complex roles of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase in cancer progression

Complex roles of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase in cancer progression

  • Cell Death Dis. 2022 Mar 25;13(3):267. doi: 10.1038/s41419-022-04713-z.
Weixuan Wang # 1,  Changmei Yang # 2,  Tianxiang Wang 2,  Haiteng Deng 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
  • 2 MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic and Systematic Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
  • 3 MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic and Systematic Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 35338115 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-022-04713-z
Abstract

Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) is an intracellular methyltransferase, catalyzing the N-methylation of nicotinamide (NAM) to form 1-methylnicotinamide (1-MNAM), in which S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) is the methyl donor. High expression of NNMT can alter cellular NAM and SAM levels, which in turn, affects nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent redox reactions and signaling pathways, and remodels cellular epigenetic states. Studies have revealed that NNMT plays critical roles in the occurrence and development of various cancers, and analysis of NNMT expression levels in different cancers from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset indicated that NNMT might be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for tumor diagnosis and treatment. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of recent advances on NNMT functions in different tumors and deciphers the complex roles of NNMT in Cancer progression.

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