METTL3 and infection: In both METTL3- and METTL14-depleted Caco-2 cells, RNA-sequencing and qRT-PCR revealed upregulated immune response genes following infection (including IL-6, IL-8, CCL20, CXCL1, and CXCL3), while IFN and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) remained largely unaffected.