NAT10-mediated AXL mRNA N4-acetylcytidine modification promotes pancreatic carcinoma progression

Although the patient's survival time in various cancers has significantly increased in recent decades, the overall 5-year survival rate of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has remained virtually unchanged due to rapid progression and metastasis. While N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) has been identified as a regulator of mRNA acetylation in many malignancies, its role in PDAC remains unclear. Here, we found that NAT10 mRNA and protein levels were upregulated in PDAC tissues. Increased NAT10 protein expression was significantly correlated with poor prognosis in PDAC patients. Through our experiments, we demonstrated that NAT10 acted as an oncogene to promote PDAC tumorigenesis and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, NAT10 exerts its oncogenic effects by promoting mRNA stability of receptor tyrosine kinase AXL in an ac4C-dependent manner leading to increased AXL expression and further promoting PDAC cell proliferation and metastasis. Together, our findings highlight the critical of NAT10 in PDAC progression and reveal a novel epigenetic mechanism by which modified mRNA acetylation promotes PDAC metastasis.