TY - JOUR
T1 - Proteomic analysis of arginine methylation sites in human cells reveals dynamic regulation during transcriptional arrest
AU - Sylvestersen, Kathrine B
AU - Horn, Heiko
AU - Jungmichel, Stephanie
AU - Jensen, Lars J
AU - Nielsen, Michael L
PY - 2014/2/21
Y1 - 2014/2/21
N2 - The covalent attachment of methyl groups to the side-chain of arginine residues is known to play essential roles in regulation of transcription, protein function and RNA metabolism. The specific N-methylation of arginine residues is catalyzed by a small family of gene products known as protein arginine methyltransferases; however, very little is known about which arginine residues become methylated on target substrates. Here we describe a proteomics methodology that combines single-step immunoenrichment of methylated peptides with high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify endogenous arginine mono-methylation (MMA) sites. We thereby identify 1,027 site-specific MMA sites on 494 human proteins, discovering numerous novel mono-methylation targets and confirming the majority of currently known MMA substrates. Nuclear RNA-binding proteins involved in RNA processing, RNA localization, transcription, and chromatin remodeling are predominantly found modified with MMA. Despite this, MMA sites prominently are located outside RNA-binding domains as compared to the proteome-wide distribution of arginine residues. Quantification of arginine methylation in cells treated with Actinomycin D uncovers strong site-specific regulation of MMA sites during transcriptional arrest. Interestingly, several MMA sites are down-regulated after a few hours of transcriptional arrest. In contrast, the corresponding di-methylation or protein expression level is not altered in expression, confirming that MMA sites contain regulated functions on their own. Collectively, we present a site-specific MMA dataset in human cells and demonstrate for the first time that MMA is a dynamic post-translational modification regulated during transcriptional arrest by a hitherto uncharacterized arginine demethylase.
AB - The covalent attachment of methyl groups to the side-chain of arginine residues is known to play essential roles in regulation of transcription, protein function and RNA metabolism. The specific N-methylation of arginine residues is catalyzed by a small family of gene products known as protein arginine methyltransferases; however, very little is known about which arginine residues become methylated on target substrates. Here we describe a proteomics methodology that combines single-step immunoenrichment of methylated peptides with high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify endogenous arginine mono-methylation (MMA) sites. We thereby identify 1,027 site-specific MMA sites on 494 human proteins, discovering numerous novel mono-methylation targets and confirming the majority of currently known MMA substrates. Nuclear RNA-binding proteins involved in RNA processing, RNA localization, transcription, and chromatin remodeling are predominantly found modified with MMA. Despite this, MMA sites prominently are located outside RNA-binding domains as compared to the proteome-wide distribution of arginine residues. Quantification of arginine methylation in cells treated with Actinomycin D uncovers strong site-specific regulation of MMA sites during transcriptional arrest. Interestingly, several MMA sites are down-regulated after a few hours of transcriptional arrest. In contrast, the corresponding di-methylation or protein expression level is not altered in expression, confirming that MMA sites contain regulated functions on their own. Collectively, we present a site-specific MMA dataset in human cells and demonstrate for the first time that MMA is a dynamic post-translational modification regulated during transcriptional arrest by a hitherto uncharacterized arginine demethylase.
U2 - 10.1074/mcp.O113.032748
DO - 10.1074/mcp.O113.032748
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 24563534
VL - 13
SP - 2072
EP - 2088
JO - Molecular and Cellular Proteomics
JF - Molecular and Cellular Proteomics
SN - 1535-9476
ER -