alpha-N-terminal Methyltransferase 1A/METTL11A Products

METTL11A, also named N-terminal RCC1 methyltransferase (NRMT), is an alpha-N-methyltransferase that methylates the N-terminal amino group of target proteins containing the N-terminal motif [Ala/Pro/Ser]-Pro-Lys when the initiator Met is cleaved. It is responsible for N-terminal methylation of RCC1, KLHL31, MYL2, MYL3, RB1, RPL23A and SET. NRMT lacks a SET domain but possesses a Rossman-like alpha/beta fold. The residues Asn169, Asp178, Asp181, and Ser183 of NRMT are important for substrate binding. RCC1 (Ran guanine nucleotide-exchange factor) is the first protein for which any biological function of alpha-N-methylation by NRMT has been identified. The multi-spindle phenotype associated with either NRMT knockdown or methylation-defective RCC1 mutants demonstrated the importance of alpha-N-methylation of RCC1 for normal bipolar spindle formation and chromosome aggregation. NRMT is robustly overexpressed in gastrointestinal cancers.