N6-adenosine-methyltransferase subunit METTL3 (Mettl3)

The METTL3-METTL14 heterodimer forms a N6- methyltransferase complex that methylates adenosine residues at the N(6) position of some RNAs and modulates various processes such as the circadian clock, differentiation of embryonic and haematopoietic stem cells, cortical neurogenesis, response to DNA damage, distinction of T-cells and primary miRNA processing (PubMed:25456834, PubMed:24394384, PubMed:25569111, PubMed:28809392, PubMed:28792938, PubMed:28869969, PubMed:28965759). From the heterodimer formed with METTL14, METTL3 constitutes the catalytic core (By similarity).

N6-methyladenosine (m6A), which occurs at the 5'-[AG]GAC-3' consensus sites of some mRNAs, plays a role in mRNA stability, processing, translation efficiency and editing (By similarity). M6A acts as a key regulator of mRNA stability: methylation is completed upon the discharge of mRNA into the nucleoplasm and promotes mRNA destabilization and degradation (PubMed:28637692).