m6A mRNA methylation-directed myeloid cell activation controls progression of NAFLD and obesity

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification is a fundamental determinant of mRNA metabolism, but its role in innate immunity-driven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and obesity is not known. Here, we show that myeloid lineage-restricted deletion of the m6A "writer" protein Methyltransferase Like 3 (METTL3) prevents age-related and diet-induced development of NAFLD and obesity in mice with improved inflammatory and metabolic phenotypes. Mechanistically, loss of METTL3 results in the differential expression of multiple mRNA transcripts marked with m6A, with a notable increase of DNA Damage Inducible Transcript 4 (DDIT4) mRNA level. In METTL3-deficient macrophages, there is a significant downregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway activity in response to cellular stress and cytokine stimulation, which can be restored by knockdown of DDIT4. Taken together, our findings identify the contribution of METTL3-mediated m6A modification of Ddit4 mRNA to macrophage metabolic reprogramming in NAFLD and obesity.