Protein arginine methylation is a prevalent posttranslational modification in eukaryotic cells. It regulates RNA processing, trafficking and nascent pre-RNA metabolism, receptor-mediated signal transduction, and transcriptional activation processes. PRMT6 was originally identified through a genome-wide search for human protein arginine N-methyltransferase (PRMT) family members. This particular enzyme has type I PRMT activity and with regards to substrate specificity, is functionally distinct from two other previously characterized type I enzymes - PRMT1 and PRMT4.
