Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) is the primary enzyme generating symmetric dimethylarginine (sDMA) on numerous substrates, through which it regulates many cellular processes, such as transcription and DNA repair. Aberrant expression and activation of PRMT5 is frequently observed in various human cancers and associated with poor prognosis and survival. However, the regulatory mechanisms of PRMT5 remain poorly understood. Here, we report that TRAF6 serves as an upstream E3 ubiquitin ligase to promote PRMT5 ubiquitination and activation. We find that TRAF6 catalyzes K63-linked ubiquitination of PRMT5 and interacts with PRMT5 in a TRAF6-binding-motif-dependent manner. Moreover, we identify six lysine residues located at the N-terminus as the primarily ubiquitinated sites. Disruption of TRAF6-mediated ubiquitination decreases PRMT5 methyltransferase activity towards H4R3 in part by impairing PRMT5 interaction with its co-factor MEP50. As a result, mutating the TRAF6-binding motifs or the six lysine residues significantly suppresses cell proliferation and tumor growth. Lastly, we show that TRAF6 inhibitor enhances cellular sensitivity to PRMT5 inhibitor. Therefore, our study reveals a critical regulatory mechanism of PRMT5 in cancers.
Keywords: PRMT5; TRAF6; arginine methylation; cancer; cell proliferation; ubiquitination.