Abstract
Arginine methylation plays crucial roles in many cellular functions including signal transduction, RNA transcription, and regulation of gene expression. Protein arginine methyltransferase 8 (PRMT8), a unique brain-specific protein, is localized to the plasma membrane. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying PRMT8 plasma membrane targeting remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the N-terminal 20 amino acids of PRMT8 are sufficient for plasma membrane localization and that oligomerization enhances membrane localization. The basic amino acids, combined with myristoylation within the N-terminal 20 amino acids of PRMT8, are critical for plasma membrane targeting. We also found that substituting Gly-2 with Ala [PRMT8(G2A)] or Cys-9 with Ser [PRMT8(C9S)] induces the formation of punctate structures in the cytosol or patch-like plasma membrane localization, respectively. Impairment of PRMT8 oligomerization/dimerization by Cterminal deletion induces PRMT8 mis-localization to the mitochondria, prevents the formation of punctate structures by PRMT8(G2A), and inhibits PRMT8(C9S) patch-like plasma membrane localization. Overall, these results suggest that oligomerization/dimerization plays several roles in inducing the efficient and specific plasma membrane localization of PRMT8. [BMB Reports 2019; 52(10): 601-606].