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N-terminal α-methylation of RCC1 is necessary for stable chromatin association and normal mitosis

Nature Cell Biology volume 9, pages 596–603 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Regulator of chromatin condensation 1 (RCC1) is the only known guanine nucleotide-exchange factor for the Ran GTPase and has pivotal roles in nucleo-cytoplasmic transport, mitosis, and nuclear-envelope assembly1. RCC1 associates dynamically with chromatin through binding to histones H2A and/or H2B in a Ran-regulated manner2,3. Here, we report that, unexpectedly, the amino-terminal serine or proline residue of RCC1 is uniquely methylated on its α-amino group. Methylation requires removal of the initiating methionine, and the presence of proline and lysine at positions 3 and 4, respectively. Methylation-defective mutants of RCC1 bind less effectively than wild-type protein to chromatin during mitosis, which causes spindle-pole defects. We propose a bimodal attachment mechanism for RCC1 in which the tail promotes stable RCC1 association with chromatin through DNA binding in an α-N-methylation-dependent manner. These data provide the first known function for N-terminal protein methylation.

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Figure 1: RCC1 N-terminal methylation.
Figure 2: Identification of N-terminal methylation motif, α-N-terminal methyltransferase activity and detection of endogenous RCC1 N-terminal methylation.
Figure 3: Methylation of RCC1 regulates its interaction with chromosomes.
Figure 4: Methylation of RCC1 is required for correct spindle assembly and chromosome segregation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank members of the Macara laboratory for helpful suggestions, especially G. Riddick for conducting statistical tests. We also thank J. Nelson for MDCK cells stably expressing GFP–tubulin; S. Khochbin for GFP–H2A; L. Pemberton for core histones; R. Tsien for mRFP1; and T. Stukenberg, M. Smith and A. Spang for helpful suggestions and critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to I.G.M (GM070902, CA040042) and D.F.H. (GM37537).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Center for Cell Signaling, University of Virginia School of Medicine University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22908–0577, VA, USA

    Ting Chen, Christine E. Schaner-Tooley & Ian G. Macara

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22904–4319, VA, USA

    Tara L. Muratore, Jeffrey Shabanowitz & Donald F. Hunt

  3. Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22908–0904, VA, USA

    Donald F. Hunt

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  1. Ting Chen
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  6. Ian G. Macara
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Contributions

T.C. made the RCC1 mutant proteins, identified the methyltransferase activity and its recognition motif, and performed the assays to identify its function. T.L.M. and J.S. performed the mass spectrometry. C.E.S.-T. made the antibodies against methylated RCC1 and performed the experiments with them. D.F.H. directed the mass spectrometry. I.G.M. directed the biochemical and cell biological studies. T.C. and I.G.M. wrote the paper. All authors discussed results and contributed to the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ian G. Macara.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Chen, T., Muratore, T., Schaner-Tooley, C. et al. N-terminal α-methylation of RCC1 is necessary for stable chromatin association and normal mitosis. Nat Cell Biol 9, 596–603 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1572

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