Ki-1/57 interacts with PRMT1 and is a substrate for arginine methylation

FEBS J. 2006 Sep;273(17):3946-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2006.05399.x. Epub 2006 Jul 19.

Abstract

The human 57 kDa Ki-1 antigen (Ki-1/57) is a cytoplasmic and nuclear protein, associated with Ser/Thr protein kinase activity, and phosphorylated at the serine and threonine residues upon cellular activation. We have shown that Ki-1/57 interacts with chromo-helicase DNA-binding domain protein 3 and with the adaptor/signaling protein receptor of activated kinase 1 in the nucleus. Among the identified proteins that interacted with Ki-1/57 in a yeast two-hybrid system was the protein arginine-methyltransferase-1 (PRMT1). Most interestingly, when PRMT1 was used as bait in a yeast two-hybrid system we were able to identify Ki-1/57 as prey among 14 other interacting proteins, the majority of which are involved in RNA metabolism or in the regulation of transcription. We found that Ki-1/57 and its putative paralog CGI-55 have two conserved Gly/Arg-rich motif clusters (RGG/RXR box, where X is any amino acid) that may be substrates for arginine-methylation by PRMT1. We observed that all Ki-1/57 protein fragments containing RGG/RXR box clusters interact with PRMT1 and are targets for methylation in vitro. Furthermore, we found that Ki-1/57 is a target for methylation in vivo. Using immunofluorescence experiments we observed that treatment of HeLa cells with an inhibitor of methylation, adenosine-2',3'-dialdehyde (Adox), led to a reduction in the cytoplasmic immunostaining of Ki-1/57, whereas its paralog CGI-55 was partially redistributed from the nucleus to the cytoplasm upon Adox treatment. In summary, our data show that the yeast two-hybrid assay is an effective system for identifying novel PRMT arginine-methylation substrates and may be successfully applied to other members of the growing family of PRMTs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Arginine / metabolism*
  • Cell Line
  • Conserved Sequence
  • Dimerization
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Methylation
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Myogenic Regulatory Factors / metabolism*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Protein Interaction Mapping*
  • Protein-Arginine N-Methyltransferases / metabolism*
  • RNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Repressor Proteins / metabolism*
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques

Substances

  • HABP4 protein, human
  • Myogenic Regulatory Factors
  • RNA-Binding Proteins
  • Repressor Proteins
  • SERBP1 protein, human
  • Arginine
  • PRMT1 protein, human
  • Protein-Arginine N-Methyltransferases