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Plant Physiology 145:1090-1099 (2007) © 2007 American Society of Plant Biologists The Analysis of Protein-Protein Interactions in Plants by Bimolecular Fluorescence ComplementationDepartment of Plant Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
Following the complete genome sequencing of different plant species such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), rice (Oryza sativa), and Physcomitrella (Physcomitrella patens), as well as advances toward deciphering entire proteomes, the need for a reliable way to identify protein-protein interactions is becoming a major task for the future. Bimolecular fluorescent complementation (BiFC) is a noninvasive fluorescent-based technique that allows detection of protein-protein interactions in living cells, and furthermore can be used to determine subcellular localization of the interacting proteins, and if it changes over time, without requiring addition of external agents. BiFC is based upon reconstitution of split nonfluorescent GFP variants, primarily yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), to form a fluorescent fluorophore (Ghosh et al., 2000
Due to lack of space we did not discuss other fluorescent-based techniques for detection of protein-protein interactions, such as fluorescent resonance energy transfer, and refer the readers to a recent review on fluorescent resonance energy transfer and BiFC (Bhat et al., 2006
The BiFC Principle BiFC is based upon tethering split YFP or other GFP variants to form a functional fluorophore. The association of the split YFP/GFP/cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) molecule does not occur spontaneously and requires interaction between proteins or peptides that are fused to each of the fluorophore fragments (Fig. 1 ). Upon interaction of these fused proteins/peptides, the split fluorophore fragments can interact to form a fluorescent protein that has the same spectral properties as the unsplit YFP (or other GFP variants; Figs. 1 and 2 ). If the proteins that are fused to the split fluorophore fragments do not interact, reconstitution of the YFP/GFP/CFP usually does not take place and no fluorescence is detected.
Mutational studies have uncovered sites within the GFP molecule that allow insertions without perturbing fluorescence characteristics (Abedi et al., 1998
The dynamics of the split YFP reconstitution has been investigated to elucidate the pathway for fluorescent molecule formation (Hu et al., 2002
Proteins under study can be expressed as either N-terminal or C-terminal fusions with the split YFP fragments, often referred to as YN and YC, respectively (Hu et al., 2002
Protein complementation assays (PCAs) can take place between split GFP (Ghosh et al., 2000
A foremost advantage of the BiFC assay is its simplicity and the ability to carry out experiments with either a regular epifluorescence microscope equipped with the relevant filter sets and a CCD camera, or with a CLSM. Background fluorescence does not usually constitute a problem because the signals are strong enough, especially when using split YFP. In cases of weak fluorescence, however, appropriate filter sets, such as the Ziess Pinkel Set 40, can be used to resolve true YFP fluorescence from autofluorescence (for more detail see Bracha-Drori et al., 2004
BiFC has several major advantages. (1) The assay is simple and does not require sophisticated dedicated equipment. (2) There is either no or low background signal because a fluorescing YFP would only form after interaction between proteins fused to split fragments. (3) BiFC enables determination of the subcellular localization of interacting protein complexes as well as the mutual affect of interacting partners on the subcellular localization of the complex. (4) BiFC is a sensitive assay, enabling detection of weak and transient interactions, primarily due to the stability of the reconstituted YFP complexes (Hu et al., 2002
However, the assay suffers from several pitfalls that must be taken into account. (1) The slow maturation time of the reconstituted GFP/YFP/CFP compromises detection of dynamic changes in protein-protein interactions in real time (Ghosh et al., 2000
These disadvantages of the BiFC system require careful consideration of the following issues. Although BiFC-based systems have been used successfully for monitoring dynamic changes in Ca2+ concentration (Nagai et al., 2001
The Application of BiFC in Plants
Successful application of BiFC in plants was first described in three publications (Bracha-Drori et al., 2004
Below we describe several studies in which results obtained with BiFC have led to new insights and understandings of biological processes. Table I presents a list of protein-protein interactions that have been verified or identified by BiFC in plants.
BiFC proved to be useful for determining the mutual effect of interacting proteins on their subcellular localization (Fig. 4A ). The ROP GTPase-interacting coiled-coil scaffold protein INTERACTOR OF CONSTITUTIVE ACTIVE ROP1 (ICR1) makes cytoplasmic-localized homooligomers but it is recruited by ROPs to the plasma membrane. In turn, ICR1 interacts and recruits specific sets of proteins, including SEC3 exocyst subunit to the plasma membrane, regulating cell polarity. The BiFC experiments demonstrated how posttranslational lipid modifications of the ROPs determine the subcellular localization of the complex (Lavy et al., 2007
Determination of subcellular localization of protein complexes by BiFC has opened new avenues toward understanding basic cellular processes in plants. The function of microRNAs (miR) in gene expression regulation has been at the forefront of research in plant and nonplant systems ever since they were first discovered. Much is still not known about the mechanisms of miR formation and processing. In a recent study, BiFC was used to demonstrate that DICER-LIKE1 (DCL1), HYPONASTIC LEAVES1 (HYL1), and SERRATE (SE), three proteins involved in miR processing or storage, are assembled and localized in nuclear dicing bodies (Fang and Spector, 2007
Localization of protein complexes with BiFC has yielded surprises and new insights. Complexes of the polycomb (PcG) chromatin regulating complex proteins FERTILIZATION INDEPENDENT ENDOSPERM (FIE) and the SET domain MEDEA (MEA) were detected in both the nuclei and cytoplasm (Bracha-Drori et al., 2004
The topology of two membrane proteins were tested with BiFC. The amino (YN) and carboxy (YC) fragments of YFP were cloned at different positions along the P6 movement protein of Beet yellow virus and the TGBp2 protein of Potato mop top virus (Zamyatnin et al., 2006
BiFC assays have failed to confirm data obtained using in vitro or yeast two-hybrid assays. For example, homodimerization of APETALA1 (AP1), and heterodimerization of AP3 and PISTILLATA (PI) MADS-box floral regulators and their Antirrhinum homologs had previously been demonstrated by in vitro and yeast two-hybrid assays (Egea-Cortines et al., 1999
The use of the BiFC assays could be expanded in several directions. These include determination of protein-protein interactions in time and space by using endogenous promoters of genes of interest. In addition, high-throughput screens for interacting proteins in plant cells and determination of gene expression patterns could be facilitated using BiFC.
Using endogenous promoters for gene expression in BiFC could solve several problems, as specified below. Avoiding overexpression should alleviate nonspecific interactions and will enable testing interaction at physiologically relevant conditions. Furthermore, in some cases interaction between two proteins is indirect, requiring additional factor(s) that may only exist in certain tissues or cells (Fig. 4B). Some interactions may only occur following certain stimuli, whose effects could be obscured by overexpression. Under physiologically more relevant conditions, quantification of fluorescence signals should be more readily achievable and relevant. The use of specific promoters would be invaluable for developmental studies (Fig. 4D). It is of concern that the low expression levels often observed with native promoters could potentially compromise detection of YFP signal above background fluorescence. However, the proven sensitivity of the BiFC assay together with the newer and more sensitive YFP variant, Venus, previously adapted for BiFC (Shyu et al., 2006
The simplicity and sensitivity of BiFC makes it an attractive system for high-throughput protein-protein interaction screens in plants. A split GFP system has been used for screening interacting partners of the protein kinase PKB/Akt in COS cells (Remy and Michnick, 2004 Background fluorescence should be quantified to select between specific and nonspecific interacting partners. What is the preferred experimental system? Should it be, for example, tissue culture cells, pollen, seedlings, or mature plants? Unlike mammalian cells, plant cells do not adhere to the bottom of culture plates, making it much more difficult to screen efficiently for individual cells/colonies. This problem may be alleviated by using FACS if the fluorescence is strong enough. It would be necessary to devise an efficient and reliable screening method including high transformation efficiency, reduce transgene silencing, and develop reliable methods for plasmid recovery. Finally, BiFC should be compared to other PCA systems.
A successful application of a split luciferase in plants has been described (Fujikawa and Kato, 2007 The popularity and usage of BiFC in plants systems is rapidly expanding and undoubtedly, new protein-protein interactions will be revealed. The quality and reliability of these data will depend on carrying out all the necessary controls, reducing the expression levels, and primarily using BiFC where its greatest capability lies—for the detection of subcellular localization.
The results shown in Figure 1 were produced by Meirav Lavy in the S.Y. laboratory. Keren Bracha-Drori constructed several vectors in the S.Y. laboratory. We thank Sheila McCormick and Itzhak Ohad for comments. Current research in the laboratory of S.Y. is supported by grants from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the German-Israeli Foundation (GIF), the Deutschland-Israeli Program (DIP), and the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD). Current research in the laboratory of N.O. is supported by grants from ISF, GIF, DIP, and BARD. Development of BiFC in our laboratories was supported by the ISF BIKURA grant. Received August 14, 2007; accepted September 5, 2007; published December 6, 2007.
1 These authors contributed equally to the article. The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Shaul Yalovsky (shauly{at}tauex.tau.ac.il). www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.107.107284 * Corresponding author; e-mail shauly{at}tauex.tau.ac.il.
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