Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) promotes survival of lymphoma cells via activation of WNT/β-catenin and AKT/GSK3β proliferative signaling.

Epigenetic regulation by the type II protein arginine methyltransferase, PRMT5, plays an essential role in the control of cancer cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. In this report, we investigate the relationship between PRMT5 and WNT/β-CATENIN as well as AKT/GSK3β proliferative signaling in three different types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell lines, clinical samples, and mouse primary lymphoma cells. We show that PRMT5 stimulates WNT/β-CATENIN signaling through direct epigenetic silencing of pathway antagonists, AXIN2 and WIF1, and indirect activation of AKT/GSK3β signaling. PRMT5 inhibition with either shRNA-mediated knockdown or a specific small molecule PRMT5 inhibitor, CMP-5, not only leads to derepression of WNT antagonists and decreased levels of active phospho-AKT (Thr-450 and Ser-473) and inactive phospho-GSK3β (Ser-9) but also results in decreased transcription of WNT/β-CATENIN target genes, CYCLIN D1, c-MYC, and SURVIVIN, and enhanced lymphoma cell death. Furthermore, PRMT5 inhibition leads to reduced recruitment of co-activators CBP, p300, and MLL1, as well as enhanced recruitment of co-repressors HDAC2 and LSD1 to the WNT/β-CATENIN target gene promoters. These results indicate that PRMT5 governs expression of prosurvival genes by promoting WNT/β-CATENIN and AKT/GSK3β proliferative signaling and that its inhibition induces lymphoma cell death, which warrants further clinical evaluation.