Fig. 4
From: Biological and pharmacological roles of m6A modifications in cancer drug resistance
m6A-mediated alterations in the tumor immune microenvironment. METTL3 was significantly downregulated in testicular germ cell tumor tissues, which positively correlated with the level of tumor infiltration by CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. WTAP was overexpressed in granulosa cells (GCs) and negatively correlated with T cell infiltration and T cell-induced immunity. In skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) patients, the number of infiltrating regulatory T cells (Tregs) and polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) was significantly decreased in ALKBH5 knockout (KO) tumors, while dendritic cells (DCs) were significantly elevated. In kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), downregulation of YTHDF2 positively correlated with lymphocyte infiltration (e.g., B cells, T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells). In breast cancer (BC), high expression of YTHDF1 distinctly exhibited higher infiltration scores of activated memory CD4 + T cells and M1 macrophages but low infiltration levels of activated NK cells. METTL3 was highly expressed in mismatch-repair-proficient or microsatellite instability-low colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, and decreased interferon-γ (IFN-γ) Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9) and CXCL10 secretion in TIME