ALKBH3 suppresses ischemia/reperfusion‐induced PANoptosis by regulating the ZBED6/STAT1/AIM2 axis through m 1 A demethylation

Abstract Background Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury induces an intense inflammatory response and involves multiple cell death pathways. PANoptosis, an integrated cell death process involving pyroptosis, apoptosis and necroptosis, is a major driver of cardiomyocyte loss during I/R injury. However, the epitranscriptomic control of PANoptosis is poorly understood. Methods We investigated the role of ALKBH3, an mRNA N 1 ‐methyladenosine (m 1 A) demethylase, in the regulation of cardiomyocyte PANoptosis using hypoxia/reoxygenation models in vitro and murine I/R models in vivo. Integrated transcriptomic and m 1 A epitranscriptomic profiling identified downstream targets. Loss‐ and gain‐of‐function studies of ALKBH3, AIM2, ZBED6 and STAT1 (siRNA or plasmid overexpression) were coupled with assessments of cell death phenotypes, inflammasome activity and gene expression. Molecular interactions and transcriptional/translational regulation were examined using co‐immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and dual‐luciferase reporter assays. Results Cardiomyocyte‐restricted ALKBH3 overexpression mitigates I/R injury in vivo. Mechanistically, ALKBH3 acts as a key suppressor of PANoptosis by inhibiting AIM2. ALKBH3 demethylates m 1 A onZBED6 mRNA, enhancing ZBED6 translation and limiting cardiomyocyte PANoptosis. Although ZBED6 does not bind directly to the AIM2 promoter, it physically interacts with STAT1, a transcriptional activator of AIM2, and represses STAT1‐driven AIM2 expression. ZBED6 overexpression reduces AIM2 levels and PANoptosis, whereas AIM2 knockout attenuates the exacerbation of cardiac injury and PANoptosis induced by ALKBH3 silencing. Conclusions These findings identify the ALKBH3/ZBED6/STAT1/AIM2 signalling axis that epitranscriptomically breaks cardiomyocyte PANoptosis, highlighting a tractable therapeutic target that limits cell death and improves myocardial outcomes after I/R.