Severe Hypomyelination and Developmental Defects Are Caused in Mice Lacking Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) in the Central Nervous System

Abstract Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) is involved in cell proliferation, DNA damage response, and transcriptional regulation. While PRMT1 is extensively expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) at embryonic and perinatal stages, the physiological role of PRMT1 was poorly understood. Here, to investigate the primary function of PRMT1 in the CNS, we generated CNS-specific PRMT1 knockout mice by Cre-loxP system. These mice exhibited post-natal growth retardation with tremors and most of them died in two weeks after birth. Brain histological analyses revealed the prominent cell reduction in the white matter tracts of the mutant mice. Furthermore, ultrastructural analysis demonstrated that myelin sheath was almost completely ablated in the CNS of these animals. In agreement with hypomyelination, we also observed that most major myelin proteins including MBP, CNPase, and MAG were dramatically decreased, although neuronal and astrocytic markers were preserved in the brain of CNS-specific PRMT1 knockout mice. These animals had reduced number of OLIG2+ oligodendrocyte lineage cells in the white matter. We found that expressions of transcription factors essential for oligodendrocyte specification and further maturation were significantly suppressed in the brain of the mutant mice. Our findings provide evidence that PRMT1 is required for CNS development, especially for oligodendrocyte maturation processes.