Dong Feng, Sun Xiaoyu, Su Jiacheng, Li Qian, He You, Li Wei, Wang Baofeng, Wang Bo, Xu Guogang, Wu Xudong
State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, The Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, School of Biomedical Engineering & Technology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China; Department of Cell Biology, Tianjin Medical University, Qixiangtai Road 22, Tianjin 300070, China.
Department of Cell Biology, Tianjin Medical University, Qixiangtai Road 22, Tianjin 300070, China.
Cell Signal. 2024 May;117:111094. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2024.111094. Epub 2024 Feb 8.
Hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs) are key transcription factors for cellular response to low oxygen levels. However, the specific mediators responsible for activating downstream transcription are not well characterized. We previously identified Protein Arginine methyltransferase 2 (PRMT2), a highly expressed methyltransferase in glioblastoma multiforme, as a transcription co-activator. And we established a connection between PRMT2-mediated histone H3R8 asymmetric methylation (H3R8me2a) and transcription activation. Here we find that PRMT2 is activated by HIF1α under hypoxic conditions. And we demonstrate that PRMT2 and its H3R8me2a activity are required for the transcription activation of a significant subset of hypoxia-induced genes. Consequently, the inactivation of PRMT2 suppresses hypoxia-induced glioblastoma cell migration, attenuates tumor progression, and enhances chemotherapeutic sensitivity in mouse xenograft models. In addition, our analysis of clinical glioma specimens reveals a correlation between PRMT2 protein levels, HIF1α abundance, and an unfavorable prognosis. Our study establishes HIF1α-induced PRMT2 as a critical modulator in the activation of hypoxia-related transcriptional programs, ultimately driving malignant progression.
缺氧诱导转录因子(HIFs)是细胞对低氧水平作出反应的关键转录因子。然而,负责激活下游转录的具体介质尚未得到充分表征。我们之前鉴定出蛋白质精氨酸甲基转移酶2(PRMT2),它是多形性胶质母细胞瘤中一种高表达的甲基转移酶,作为一种转录共激活因子。并且我们建立了PRMT2介导的组蛋白H3R8不对称甲基化(H3R8me2a)与转录激活之间的联系。在此我们发现PRMT2在缺氧条件下被HIF1α激活。并且我们证明PRMT2及其H3R8me2a活性是缺氧诱导基因的一个重要亚组转录激活所必需的。因此,在小鼠异种移植模型中,PRMT2的失活抑制了缺氧诱导的胶质母细胞瘤细胞迁移,减弱了肿瘤进展,并增强了化疗敏感性。此外,我们对临床胶质瘤标本的分析揭示了PRMT2蛋白水平、HIF1α丰度与不良预后之间的相关性。我们的研究确立了HIF1α诱导的PRMT2是缺氧相关转录程序激活中的关键调节因子,最终推动恶性进展。