Fig. 1. METTL3 is positively correlated with effector functions of NK cells.
a Heatmap showing the NK cell effector function-related genes in tumor-infiltrating NK cells compared with those in normal liver NK cells from a published dataset (GSE120123). b Correlation between METTL3 TPM (transcripts per kilobase of exon model per million mapped reads) and module TPM of NK effector function (NCR1, EOMES, TBX21, CD69, DNAM1, KLRK1, PERF, IFNG, and GZMB) in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), thyroid carcinoma (THCA), uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS), and prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) tissues. Spearman’s correlation coefficient (R) and P values are shown. c A representative histogram showing METTL3 expression in peripheral blood NK cells from a healthy human. d–h WT C57BL/6 mice were harvested for analyses of lung NK cells 3–4 weeks after intravenous injection of 5 × 105 B16/F10 cells. d Representative plots showing expression of NK1.1 and CD3 in lungs. e Percentages of NK cells from control (n = 5) or B16/F10-bearing (n = 3) mice. f A representative histogram (left) and MFI (right) of METTL3 expression in NK cells from control (n = 5) or B16/F10-bearing (n = 3) mice. g Representative histograms of indicated-molecule expression in NK cells from control or B16/F10-bearing mice. For detection of IFN-γ, lung mononuclear cells were isolated and stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and ionomycin for 4 h for flow-cytometric analyses. h Correlation between the MFI of METTL3 expression and MFI of the indicated molecule expression in NK cells, or NK cell numbers (n = 6 for the control group; n = 5 (IFN-γ) or 17 (other molecules) for B16/F10 group). i–m WT C57BL/6 mice were harvested for analyses of liver NK cells 3–4 weeks after intrasplenic injection of 2 × 105 MC38 cells. i Representative plots showing expression of NK1.1 and CD3 in livers. j Percentages of liver NK cells from control (n = 5) or MC38-bearing (n = 3) mice. k A representative histogram (left) and MFI (right) of METTL3 expression in liver NK cells from control (n = 5) or MC38-bearing (n = 3) mice. l Representative histograms of indicated-molecule expression in liver NK cells from control or MC38-bearing mice. For detection of IFN-γ, liver mononuclear cells were isolated and stimulated with PMA and ionomycin for 4 h for flow-cytometric analyses. m Correlation between the MFI of METTL3 expression and MFI of the indicated molecule expression in NK cells, or NK cell numbers (n = 12 for the control group; n = 5 for MC38 group). Each symbol represents an individual mouse (e, f, h, j, k, m). Data are the mean ± SEM (unpaired two-tailed t test (e, f, j, k), two-tailed Pearson correlation-test (h, m)). Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Data represent at least two independent experiments (c, d–m).