PRMT1 is the predominant member of a family of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) that have been implicated in various cellular processes, including transcription, RNA processing, and signal transduction. It was previously reported that the human PRMT1 pre-mRNA was alternatively spliced to yield three isoforms with distinct N-terminal sequences. Close inspection of the genomic organization in the 5-end of the PRMT1 gene revealed that it can produce up to seven protein isoforms, all varying in their N-terminal domain. A detailed biochemical characterization of these variants revealed that unique N-terminal sequences can influence catalytic activity as well as substrate specificity. In addition, our results uncovered the presence of a functional nuclear export sequence in PRMT1v2. Finally, we find that the relative balance of PRMT1 isoforms is altered in breast cancer.

Our previous work has demonstrated that the Tudor domain of the ‘survival of motor neuron’ protein and the Tudor domain-containing protein 3 (TDRD3) are highly similar and that they both have the ability to interact with arginine-methylated polypeptides. TDRD3 has been identified among genes whose overexpression has a strong predictive value for poor prognosis of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancers, although its precise function remains unknown. TDRD3 is a modular protein, and in addition to its Tudor domain, it harbors a putative nucleic acid recognition motif and a ubiquitin-associated domain. We report here that TDRD3 localizes predominantly to the cytoplasm, where it co-sediments with the fragile X mental retardation protein on actively translating polyribosomes. We also demonstrate that TDRD3 accumulates into stress granules (SGs) in response to various cellular stresses. Strikingly, the Tudor domain of TDRD3 was found to be both required and sufficient for its recruitment to SGs, and the methyl-binding surface in the Tudor domain is important for this process. Pull down experiments identified five novel TDRD3 interacting partners, most of which are potentially methylated RNA-binding proteins. Our findings revealed that two of these proteins, SERPINE1 mRNA-binding protein 1 and DEAD/H box-3 (a gene often deleted in Sertoli-cell-only syndrome), are also novel constituents of cytoplasmic SGs. Taken together, we report the first characterization of TDRD3 and its functional interaction with at least two proteins implicated in human genetic diseases and present evidence supporting a role for arginine methylation in the regulation of SG dynamics.

Côté (2012) Alternatively spliced protein arginine methyltransferase 1 isoform PRMT1v2 promotes the survival and invasiveness of breast cancer cells, Cell Cycle, 11:24,[4597][4598][4599][4600][4601][4602][4603][4604][4605][4606][4607][4608][4609][4610][4611][4612]

SummaryDicer is a multidomain ribonuclease III enzyme involved in the biogenesis of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the vast majority of eukaryotes. In human, Dicer has been shown to interact with cellular proteins via its N-terminal domain. Here, we demonstrate the ability of Dicer C-terminus to interact with 5-lipoxygenase (5LO), an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of inflammatory mediators, in vitro and in cultured human cells. Yeast two-hybrid and GST binding assays delineated the smallest 5-lipoxygenase binding domain (5LObd) of Dicer to its C-terminal 140 amino acids comprising the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) binding domain (dsRBD). The Dicer 5LObd-5LO association was disrupted upon Ala substitution of Trp residues 13, 75 and 102 in 5LO, suggesting that the Dicer 5LObd may recognize 5LO via its N-terminal C2-like domain. Whereas a catalytically active 5LObd-containing Dicer fragment was found to enhance 5LO enzymatic activity in vitro, human 5LO modified the miRNA precursor processing activity of Dicer. In addition to revealing the dual RNA and protein binding properties of Dicer C-terminus, our results may provide a link between miRNA-mediated regulation of gene expression and inflammation.

Cotranscriptional recruitment of pre-mRNA splicing factors to their genomic targets facilitates efficient and ordered assembly of a mature messenger ribonucleoprotein particle (mRNP). However, how the cotranscriptional recruitment of splicing factors is regulated remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that protein arginine methylation plays a novel role in regulating this process in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our data show that Hmt1, the major type I arginine methyltransferase, methylates Snp1, a U1 small nuclear RNP (snRNP)-specific protein, and that the mammalian Snp1 homolog, U1-70K, is likewise arginine methylated. Genomewide localization analysis reveals that the deletion of the HMT1 gene deregulates the recruitment of U1 snRNP and its associated components to intron-containing genes (ICGs). In the same context, splicing factors acting downstream of U1 snRNP addition bind to a reduced number of ICGs. Quantitative measurement of the abundance of spliced target transcripts shows that these changes in recruitment result in an increase in the splicing efficiency of developmentally regulated mRNAs. We also show that in the absence of either Hmt1 or of its catalytic activity, an association between Snp1 and the SR-like protein Npl3 is substantially increased. Together, these data support a model whereby arginine methylation modulates dynamic associations between SR-like protein and pre-mRNA splicing factor to promote target specificity in splicing.In eukaryotic cells, pre-mRNA is processed and packaged into a mature messenger ribonucleoprotein particle (mRNP) prior to its export from the nucleus (reviewed in references 12, 25, and 44). The correct formation of an mRNP requires a web of physical interactions among RNA processing factors during transcription. An important step in the processing of eukaryotic RNA is pre-mRNA splicing, in which noncoding introns are removed to generate mature, translatable mRNAs. The splicing reaction is catalyzed by the spliceosome, which is composed of five small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) and many associated proteins (reviewed in references 62, 67, and 68). Like many other RNA processing factors that have been studied thus far, the components of the spliceosome are recruited cotranscriptionally (19,36,47). Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments have shown that, in vivo, spliceosome components assemble on introncontaining genes (ICGs) in a stepwise manner, consistent with findings from in vitro studies of splicing complexes (19,32,47). Specifically, the U1 snRNP is recruited to the 5Ј splice site (ss), and the branchpoint binding protein (BPP) and Mud2 (human U2AF65) are recruited to the intronic branch site and nearby sequences, respectively. Together, these factors define basic intron/exon consensus features and "commit" a pre-mRNA substrate to splicing. Subsequent assembly involves ordered recruitment of the U2 snRNP, the U5/U4/U6 tri-snRNP, and spliceosome activation factors such as the "nineteen complex" (NTC) (9). Posttranscriptional splicing...