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Title: A Potent, Selective, and Cell-Active Inhibitor of Human Type I Protein Arginine Methyltransferases

Journal Article · · ACS Chemical Biology

Protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) play a crucial role in a variety of biological processes. Overexpression of PRMTs has been implicated in various human diseases including cancer. Consequently, selective small-molecule inhibitors of PRMTs have been pursued by both academia and the pharmaceutical industry as chemical tools for testing biological and therapeutic hypotheses. PRMTs are divided into three categories: type I PRMTs which catalyze mono- and asymmetric dimethylation of arginine residues, type II PRMTs which catalyze mono- and symmetric dimethylation of arginine residues, and type III PRMT which catalyzes only monomethylation of arginine residues. Here, we report the discovery of a potent, selective, and cell-active inhibitor of human type I PRMTs, MS023, and characterization of this inhibitor in a battery of biochemical, biophysical, and cellular assays. MS023 displayed high potency for type I PRMTs including PRMT1, -3, -4, -6, and -8 but was completely inactive against type II and type III PRMTs, protein lysine methyltransferases and DNA methyltransferases. A crystal structure of PRMT6 in complex with MS023 revealed that MS023 binds the substrate binding site. MS023 potently decreased cellular levels of histone arginine asymmetric dimethylation. It also reduced global levels of arginine asymmetric dimethylation and concurrently increased levels of arginine monomethylation and symmetric dimethylation in cells. We also developed MS094, a close analog of MS023, which was inactive in biochemical and cellular assays, as a negative control for chemical biology studies. In conclusion, MS023 and MS094 are useful chemical tools for investigating the role of type I PRMTs in health and disease.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
U.S. National Inst. of Health; AbbVie, Bayer Pharma AG; Boehringer Ingelheim; Canada Foundation for Innovation; Eshelman Inst. for Innovation; Genome Canada; Innovative Medicines Initiative (EU/EFPIA); ULTRA-DD; Janssen, Merck & Co.; Novartis Pharma AG; Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation; Pfizer; São Paulo Research Foundation-FAPESP; Takeda; Wellcome Trust
Grant/Contract Number:
R01GM103893; 1097737; 115766
OSTI ID:
1243125
Journal Information:
ACS Chemical Biology, Vol. 11, Issue 3; ISSN 1554-8929
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 147 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Methyltransferase Inhibitors: Competing with, or Exploiting the Bound Cofactor journal December 2019
Arginine Demethylation of G3BP1 Promotes Stress Granule Assembly journal September 2016
Smad6 Methylation Represses NFκB Activation and Periodontal Inflammation journal February 2018
Recent advances in targeting protein arginine methyltransferase enzymes in cancer therapy journal May 2018
Protein methyltransferase inhibitors as precision cancer therapeutics: a decade of discovery journal April 2018
The regulation, functions and clinical relevance of arginine methylation journal July 2019
GFI1 facilitates efficient DNA repair by regulating PRMT1 dependent methylation of MRE11 and 53BP1 journal April 2018
A patent review of arginine methyltransferase inhibitors (2010–2018) journal January 2019
Inhibiting Arginine Methylation as a Tool to Investigate Cross-Talk with Methylation and Acetylation Post-Translational Modifications in a Glioblastoma Cell Line journal October 2018
A chemical biology toolbox to study protein methyltransferases and epigenetic signaling journal January 2019
Targeting protein methylation: from chemical tools to precision medicines journal May 2019
Mechanisms and Inhibitors of Histone Arginine Methylation journal August 2018
Design and synthesis of selective, small molecule inhibitors of coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase 1 (CARM1) journal January 2016
PRMT1-mediated FLT3 arginine methylation promotes maintenance of FLT3-ITD+ acute myeloid leukemia journal August 2019
Protein arginine methylation: an emerging regulator of the cell cycle journal March 2018
PRMT2 links histone H3R8 asymmetric dimethylation to oncogenic activation and tumorigenesis of glioblastoma journal October 2018
Pharmacological inhibition of PRMT7 links arginine monomethylation to the cellular stress responses journal March 2019
Targeting histone methylation for cancer therapy: enzymes, inhibitors, biological activity and perspectives journal June 2016
The story of protein arginine methylation: characterization, regulation, and function journal January 2017
A Chemical Biology Toolbox for the Study of Protein Methyltransferases and Epigenetic Signaling posted_content February 2018
A chemical probe toolbox for dissecting the cancer epigenome journal February 2017
PRMT1-mediated methylation of the Large Drosha Complex regulates microRNA biogenesis posted_content November 2018
Proteome-wide identification of arginine methylation in colorectal cancer tissues from patients journal May 2020
Structural basis of arginine asymmetrical dimethylation by PRMT6 journal September 2016
Epigenetic control via allosteric regulation of mammalian protein arginine methyltransferases journal September 2017
Discovery of decamidine as a new and potent PRMT1 inhibitor journal January 2017
Protein Arginine Methyltransferases in Cardiovascular and Neuronal Function journal December 2019
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PRMT5 regulates IRES-dependent translation via methylation of hnRNP A1 journal January 2017
Arginine methylation of the C-terminus RGG motif promotes TOP3B topoisomerase activity and stress granule localization journal February 2018
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TP-064, a potent and selective small molecule inhibitor of PRMT4 for multiple myeloma journal March 2018
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