[1] More recently, it was discovered that this enzyme can also catalyze the methylation of thioether and selenoether compounds, although the physiological significance of this biotransformation is not yet known.

In the case of tryptamine and serotonin these then become the dimethylated indolethylamines N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and bufotenine respectively.

[4] This enzyme belongs to the family of transferases, specifically those transferring one-carbon group methyltransferases.

A wide range of primary, secondary and tertiary amines can act as acceptors, including tryptamine, aniline, nicotine and a variety of drugs and other xenobiotics.

[1] As of late 2007, only one structure has been solved for this class of enzymes, with the PDB accession code 2A14.