The TIS21 immediate-early gene and leukemia-associated BTG1 gene encode proteins with similar sequences. Two-hybrid analysis identified a protein that interacts with TIS21 and BTG1. Sequence motifs associated with S-adenosyl-L-methionine binding suggested this protein might have methyltransferase activity. A glutathione Stransferase (GST) fusion of the putative methyltransferase modifies arginine residues, in appropriate protein substrates, to form N G -monomethyl and N G ,N Gdimethylarginine (asymmetric). We term the proteinarginine N-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.23) gene "PRMT1," for protein-arginine methyltransferase 1. GST-TIS21 and GST-BTG1 fusion proteins qualitatively and quantitatively modulate endogenous PRMT1 activity, using control and hypomethylated RAT1 cell extracts as methyl-accepting substrates. PRMT1 message appears ubiquitous, and is constitutive in mitogen-stimulated cells. Modulation of PRMT1 activity by transiently expressed regulatory subunits may be an additional mode of signal transduction following ligand stimulation.The protein products of the immediate-early/primary response genes are thought to act as "third messengers," mediating phenotypic alterations in cells in response to ligands such as growth factors, hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines, and neurotrophins. Many immediate-early genes encode transcription factors (e.g. Fos, Jun, Egr-1) that initiate transcriptional cascades required for proliferation or differentiation . Other ligand-induced immediate-early genes encode paracrine mediators of cellular communication whose products (e.g. prostaglandin synthase-2, inducible nitricoxide synthase, and cytokines such as MCP-1) modulate the behavior of neighboring cells (Smith and Herschman, 1995).Because immediate-early/primary response genes have been cloned on the basis of their induction characteristics, rather than the functions of their protein products, a number of these genes encode proteins whose biological roles have not yet been determined. One such immediate-early gene is TIS21. The TIS21 cDNA was cloned by differential screening, both from a cDNA library prepared from mitogen-treated, quiescent murine Swiss 3T3 cells (Fletcher et al., 1991) and from a cDNA library prepared from nerve growth factor-treated rat PC12 pheochromocytoma cells (Bradbury et al., 1991). The predicted rat and mouse TIS21 proteins differ at only four out of 158 amino acid residues. We demonstrated, by metabolic labeling followed by immunoprecipitation, that maximal TIS21 protein synthesis occurs within the first hour after exposure to ligand, both in mitogen-stimulated Swiss 3T3 cells and in nerve growth factor-stimulated PC12 cells (Varnum et al., 1994). Moreover, the half-life of both mitogen-and nerve growth factor-induced TIS21 protein is less than 15 min (Varnum et al., 1994). Despite substantial investigation into both the structure of the TIS21 gene and the induced expression of the TIS21 message and protein, no function has been identified for this protein.The human BTG1 gene was cloned and ...