METTL3 and infection: After infection, immune response genes were highly enriched in METTL3-deficient cells, suggesting that the early response of host cells against viral infection may be directly related to the level of m6A. In fact, the up-regulation of chemokine/cytokine genes expression (including IL-8, CXCL1, CXCL3, and CCL20) in METTL3-deficient cells was dependent on viral infection rather than on induction of IFN gene (13).