PRMT1 regulates tumor growth and metastasis of human melanoma via targeting ALCAM

Abstract

Overexpression of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) is associated with various types of cancer. The present study aimed to determine the expression level of PRMT1 in human melanoma and investigate its biological function. The clinical significance of PRMT1 was determined by screening the Oncomine database, and the increased expression of PRMT in melanoma was confirmed by western blot analysis. Furthermore, the current study demonstrated that PRMT1 was overexpressed in melanoma cell lines compared with human immortalized keratinocytes and PIG1 immortalized human melanocytes. Silencing PRMT1 in A375 and Hs294T cells significantly suppressed tumor growth and metastatic ability of the melanoma cell line compared with the negative control. These changes were in accordance with the upregulation of the cadherin 1 level and downregulation of several metastatic-associated genes determined by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction array. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry demonstrated that activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) may be a direct target of PRMT1, and the interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation. Compared with negative controls, the protein level of ALCAM was decreased following the silencing of PRMT1, and re-expression of ALCAM in A375/shPRMT1 or Hs294T/shPRMT1 cells using an expression vector restored the colony formation and metastatic ability of the cells. In conclusion, the current results indicated that PRMT1 is overexpressed in human melanoma, and may regulate tumor growth and metastasis via targeting ALCAM.