PRMT3 drives PD-L1-mediated immune escape through activating PDHK1-regulated glycolysis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Aberrant expression of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) facilitates tumor immune evasion. Protein arginine methyltransferase 3 (PRMT3), a member of type I PRMT family, mediates asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) modification of various substrate proteins. This study investigates the role of PRMT3 in PD-L1-associated tumor immunosuppression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatocyte-specific knockout of Prmt3 significantly suppressed HCC progression in DEN-CCL₄-treated mice. Knockout of Prmt3 in HCC cells markedly increased CD8⁺ T cell infiltration, and reduced lactate production in tumors. PRMT3 interacted with pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDHK1), asymmetric dimethylation of PDHK1 at arginine 363 and 368 residues and increased its kinase activity. The R363/368 K mutant or inhibition of PDHK1 by JX06 blocked the effect of PRMT3 on lactate production. JX06 treatment also attenuated the tumor-promoting role of PRMT3 in HCC in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, RNA-seq analysis revealed that knockout of PRMT3 downregulates the tumor-associated immune checkpoint, PD-L1, in tumor tissues. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay demonstrated that PRMT3 promotes lactate-induced PD-L1 expression by enhancing the direct binding of histone H3 lysine 18 lactylation (H3K18la) to the PD-L1 promoter. Tissue microarray analysis showed a positive correlation between PRMT3 and PD-L1 expression in HCC patients. Anti-PD-L1 treatment reversed PRMT3-induced tumor growth and restored CD8⁺ T cell infiltration. Our research links PRMT3-mediated metabolic reprogramming and immune evasion, revealing that the PRMT3-PDHK1-lactate-PD-L1 axis may be a potential target for improving the efficacy of immunotherapy in HCC.