Post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins is vital for increasing proteome diversity and maintaining cellular homeostasis. If the writing, reading, and removal of modifications are not controlled, cancer can develop. Arginine methylation is an understudied modification that is increasingly associated with cancer progression. Consequently protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs), the writers of arginine methylation, have rapidly gained interest as novel drug targets. However, for clinical success a deep mechanistic understanding of the biology of PRMTs is required. In this review we focus on advances made regarding the role of PRMTs in stem cell biology, epigenetics, splicing, immune surveillance and the DNA damage response, and highlight the rapid rise of specific inhibitors that are now in clinical trials for cancer therapy.

中文翻译：

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PRMT 和精氨酸甲基化：癌症最保守的秘密？


蛋白质的翻译后修饰 (PTM) 对于增加蛋白质组多样性和维持细胞稳态至关重要。如果不控制修改的写入、读取和删除，就会患上癌症。精氨酸甲基化是一种尚未被研究的修饰，它与癌症进展的关系越来越密切。因此，蛋白质精氨酸甲基转移酶（PRMT）作为精氨酸甲基化的创造者，作为新的药物靶标迅速引起了人们的兴趣。然而，为了临床成功，需要对 PRMT 的生物学有深入的机制了解。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注 PRMT 在干细胞生物学、表观遗传学、剪接、免疫监视和 DNA 损伤反应中的作用所取得的进展，并强调目前处于癌症治疗临床试验中的特定抑制剂的快速增长。