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Updated: Sep 5, 2025

Sequence-specific Labeling of Nucleic Acids and Proteins with Methyltransferases and Cofactor Analogues
Published on: November 22, 2014
Targeting the methionine-methionine adenosyl transferase 2A- S -adenosyl methionine axis for cancer therapy
Jiamin Guo1,2, Yanzhong Yang3, Ralf Buettner1
1Hematology Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute, Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research.
Purpose Of Review:
In this review, we summarize the biological roles of methionine, methionine adenosyl transferase 2A (MAT2A) and S -adenosyl methionine (SAM) in methylation reactions during tumorigenesis. Newly emerged inhibitors targeting the methionine-MAT2A-SAM axis will be discussed.
Recent Findings:
SAM is the critical and global methyl-donor for methylation reactions regulating gene expression, and in mammalian cells, it is synthesized by MAT2A using methionine. Recent studies have validated methionine and MAT2A as metabolic dependencies of cancer cells because of their essential roles in SAM biosynthesis. MAT2A inhibition leads to synthetic lethality in methylthioadenosine-phosphorylase (MTAP)-deleted cancers, which accounts for 15% of all cancer types. Of note, remarkable progress has been made in developing inhibitors targeting the methionine-MAT2A-SAM axis, as the first-in-class MAT2A inhibitors AG-270 and IDE397 enter clinical trials to treat cancer.
Summary:
The methionine-MAT2A-SAM axis plays an important role in tumorigenesis by providing SAM as a critical substrate for abnormal protein as well as DNA and RNA methylation in cancer cells. Targeting SAM biosynthesis through MAT2A inhibition has emerged as a novel and promising strategy for cancer therapy.
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