The role of
N6
-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications in renal diseases is largely unknown. Here, we characterized the role of
N6
-adenosine-methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3), whose expression is elevated in renal tubules in different acute kidney injury (AKI) models as well as in human biopsies and cultured tubular epithelial cells (TECs).
METTL3
silencing alleviated renal inflammation and programmed cell death in TECs in response to stimulation by tumor necrosis factor–α (TNF-α), cisplatin, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), whereas
METTL3
overexpression had the opposite effects. Conditional knockout of
METTL3
from mouse kidneys attenuated cisplatin- and ischemic/reperfusion (I/R)–induced renal dysfunction, injury, and inflammation. Moreover,
TAB3
[TGF-β–activated kinase 1 (MAP3K7) binding protein 3] was identified as a target of METTL3 by m6A methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing and RNA sequencing. The stability of
TAB3
was increased through binding of IGF2BP2 (insulin-like growth factor 2 binding protein 2) to its m6A-modified stop codon regions. The proinflammatory effects of TAB3 were then explored both in vitro and in vivo. Adeno-associated virus 9 (AAV9)–mediated
METTL3
silencing attenuated renal injury and inflammation in cisplatin- and LPS-induced AKI mouse models. We further identified Cpd-564 as a METTL3 inhibitor that had better protective effects against cisplatin- and ischemia/reperfusion-induced renal injury and inflammation than
S
-adenosyl-
l
-homocysteine, a previously identified METTL3 inhibitor. Collectively, METTL3 promoted m6A modifications of
TAB3
and enhanced its stability via IGF2BP2-dependent mechanisms. Both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of METTL3 attenuated renal injury and inflammation, suggesting that the METTL3/TAB3 axis is a potential target for treatment of AKI.