SMYD5 is a histone H3-specific methyltransferase mediating mono-methylation of histone H3 lysine 36 and 37.

Although post-translational modifications (-PTMs) of some histone H3 lysine residues are well studied, the PTMs of histone H3 lysine 37 in mammalian cells remain largely unknown. In this study, we provide evidence to show that SMYD family member 5 (SMYD5) is a histone H3-specfic methyltransferase that catalyzes mono-methylation of H3 lysine 36 and 37 (H3K36/K37me1) in vitro. The site-mutagenesis analysis shows that a species-conserved histidine in its catalytic SET domain is required for its histone methyltransferase activity. Genetic deletion of Smyd5 in murine embryonic stem cells (mESCs) partially reduces the global histone H3K37me1 level in cells, suggesting SMYD5 is one of histone methyltransferases catalyzing histone H3K37me1 in vivo. Hence, our study reveals that SMYD5 is a histone H3-specific methyltransferase that mediates histone H3K36/K37me1, which provides a biochemical basis for further studying its functions in mammalian cells.