Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC or KIRC) has a high mortality rate globally. It is necessary to identify biomarkers and investigate the mechanisms those biomarkers are associated with, to improve the prognosis of patients with KIRC. N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) affects the fate of modified RNA molecules and is involved in tumor progression. Different webservers were used in our research to investigate the mRNA transcription and clinical significance of YTHDF2 in KIRC. Survival analysis revealed that patients with elevated YTHDF2 transcription had a slightly longer OS and DFS than those with low YTHDF2 expression. YTHDF2 expression was shown to be significantly associated with the abundance of immune cells such as B cells, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells. For a series of enrichment studies, we combined information on YTHDF2-binding molecules and expression-linked genes and identified the possible influence of “mRNA surveillance pathway,” “RNA degradation,” and “RNA transport” in the biology or pathogeny of KIRC. In addition, we identified multiple miRNA, kinase, and transcription factor targets of YTHDF2 in KIRC and constructed target networks. Overall, our findings show that YTHDF2 is a possible indicator of immune infiltration in the KIRC.

Long-chain non-coding RNA (LncRNA) has been found to play an important role in the regulation of the occurrence and progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this study, we demonstrated that LncRNA NEAT1 expression and m6A methylation level was decreased in RCC tissues. Further, the downregulated expression level of LncRNA NEAT1 was associated with poor prognosis for RCC patients. Then we used CRIPSR/dCas13b-METTL3 to methylate LncRNA NEAT1 in RCC cells. The results showed that the expression level of LncRNA NEAT1 was upregulated after methylated by dCas13b-METTL3 in RCC cells. And the proliferation and migration ability of RCC cells was decreased after methylated LncRNA NEAT1. Finally, we examined the effect of LncRNA NEAT1 hypermethylation on the transcriptome. We found differentially expressed genes in RCC cells were associated with “cGMP-PKG signaling pathway”, “Cell adhesion molecules” and “Pathways in cancer”. In conclusion, CRISPR/Cas13b-METTL3 targeting LncRNA NEAT1 m6A methylation activates LncRNA NEAT1 expression and provides a new target for treatment of RCC.

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