FTO regulates adipogenesis by controlling cell cycle progression via m⁶A-YTHDF2 dependent mechanism

N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) is the most prevalent internal mRNA modification in eukaryotes. Loss of m⁶A demethylase FTO increases m⁶A levels and inhibits adipogenesis of preadipocytes. However, its underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we demonstrated that silencing FTO inhibited adipogenesis of preadipocytes through impairing cell cycle progression at the early stage of adipogenesis. FTO knockdown markedly decreased the expression of CCNA2 and CDK2, crucial cell cycle regulators, leading to delayed entry of MDI-induced cells into G2 phase. Furthermore, the m⁶A levels of CCNA2 and CDK2 mRNA were significantly upregulated following FTO knockdown. m⁶A-binding protein YTHDF2 recognized and decayed methylated mRNAs of CCNA2 and CDK2, leading to decreased protein expression, thereby prolonging cell cycle progression and suppressing adipogenesis. Our work unravels that FTO regulates adipogenesis by controlling cell cycle progression in an m⁶A-YTHDF2 dependent manner, which provides insights into critical roles of m⁶A methylation in adipogenesis.