Arginine Methyltransferase PRMT7 Deregulates Expression of RUNX1 Target Genes in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

• Main Authors: Haapaniemi, P. (Author), Heinäniemi, M. (Author), Hyvärinen, N. (Author), Kauko, O. (Author), Laukkanen, S. (Author), Lohi, O. (Author), Mäkinen, A. (Author), Nikkilä, A. (Author), Oksa, L. (Author), Rokka, A. (Author), Seki, M. (Author), Takita, J. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: arginine methylation; leukemia; PRMT7; RUNX1; T-ALL
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematological malignancy with no well-established prognostic biomarkers. We examined the expression of protein arginine methyltransferases across hematological malignancies and discovered high levels of PRMT7 mRNA in T-ALL, particularly in the mature subtypes of T-ALL. The genetic deletion of PRMT7 by CRISPR-Cas9 reduced the colony formation of T-ALL cells and changed arginine monomethylation patterns in protein complexes associated with the RNA and DNA processing and the T-ALL pathogenesis. Among them was RUNX1, whose target gene expression was consequently deregulated. These results suggest that PRMT7 plays an active role in the pathogenesis of T-ALL. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.