ALKBH5 regulates paclitaxel resistance in NSCLC via inhibiting CEMIP-mediated EMT

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most printed and prevalent mRNA modification, which was verified to be closely correlated with cancer occurrence and progression. As m6A demethlyase, the dysregulation of ALKBH5 was observed in various cancer. However, the role and underlying machinery of ALKBH5 in NSCLC pathogenesis, especially the chemo-resistance was poorly elucidated. The current study indicated that ALKBH5 was decreased during paclitaxel (PTX) resistant process and its down-regulation usually implied poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. Over-expression of ALKBH5 in PTX-resistant cells could suppressed cell proliferation and enhanced chemo-sensitivity. Whereas, knockdown of ALKBH5 exerted opposite effect, which further supported the tumor suppressive role of ALKBH5. Over-expression of ALKBH5 also could reverse the EMT process in PTX-resistant cancer cells. Mechanistically, data of RNA-seq, Real-time PCR and western blotting indicted that CEMIP, also known as KIAA1199, may be the downstream target of ALKBH5. And ALKBH5 could negatively regulated the CEMIP level by decreasing its mRNA stability. Collectively, current data demonstrated that ALKBH5/CEMIP axis modulates the EMT process in NSCLC, which in turn regulates chemo-sensitivity of cancer cells to PTX.