Mechanics of EGF receptor/ErbB2 kinase activation revealed by luciferase fragment complementation imaging.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Macdonald-Obermann JL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3252912 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Integrin Adhesion Complexes (IACs) serve as links between the cytoskeleton and extracellular environment, acting as mechanosensing and signaling hubs. As such, IACs participate in many aspects of cellular motility, tissue morphogenesis, anchorage-dependent growth and cell survival. Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) has emerged as a critical organizer of IAC signaling events due to its early recruitment and diverse substrates, and thus has become a genetic and therapeutic target. Here we present the design and characterization of simple, reversible, and scalable Bimolecular Complementation sensors to monitor FAK phosphorylation in living cells. These probes provide novel means to quantify IAC signaling, expanding on the currently available toolkit for interrogating FAK phosphorylation during diverse cellular processes.
| S-EPMC10119766 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Understanding the functional complexity of protein interactions requires mapping biomolecular complexes within the cellular environment over biologically relevant time scales. Herein, we describe a set of reversible multicolored heteroprotein complementation fragments based on various firefly and click beetle luciferases that utilize the same substrate, D-luciferin. Luciferase heteroprotein fragment complementation systems enabled dual-color quantification of two discrete pairs of interacting proteins simultaneously or two distinct proteins interacting with a third shared protein in live cells. Using real-time analysis of click beetle green and click beetle red luciferase heteroprotein fragment complementation applied to β-TrCP, an E3-ligase common to the regulation of both β-catenin and IκBα, GSK3β was identified as a candidate kinase regulating IκBα processing. These dual-color protein interaction switches may enable directed dynamic analysis of a variety of protein interactions in living cells.
| S-EPMC2943495 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Notch signaling regulates many cellular processes during development and adult tissue renewal. Upon ligand binding, Notch receptors undergo ectodomain shedding followed by ?-secretase-mediated release of the Notch intracellular domain (NICD), which translocates to the nucleus and associates with the DNA binding protein CSL [CBF1/RBPj?/Su(H)/Lag1] to activate gene expression. Mammalian cells contain four Notch receptors that can have both redundant and specific activities. To monitor activation of specific Notch paralogs in live cells and in real time, we developed luciferase complementation imaging (LCI) reporters for NICD-CSL association and validated them as a specific, robust, and sensitive assay system that enables structure-function and pharmacodynamic analyses. Detailed kinetic analyses of various mechanistic aspects of Notch signaling, including nuclear translocation and inhibition of the activities of ?-secretase and ADAM metalloproteases, as well as agonist- and ligand-dependent activation, were conducted in live cells. These experiments showed that Notch-LCI is an effective approach for characterizing modulators that target Notch signaling and for studying pathway dynamics in normal and disease contexts.
| S-EPMC3387985 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Chemokines and their cognate receptors have key functions in cell growth, survival, and tissue-specific homing of cells. While these functions first were identified in normal immune cells, cancer cells may co-opt chemokine receptor signaling to promote primary tumor growth and metastasis. Our knowledge of signaling by chemokines and chemokine receptors in cancer is lacking, particularly as this signaling occurs in vivo. New insights into chemokine receptor signaling in cancer are needed to understand molecular regulation of primary and metastatic disease and develop targeted therapies to improve patient survival. To meet this need, we have developed a molecular imaging reporter to investigate activation of CXCR4, a chemokine receptor that regulates tumor growth and metastasis in a variety of common cancers. The reporter system uses a firefly luciferase-based protein fragment complementation assay to detect interactions between CXCR4 and beta-arrestin molecules, a common early step in chemokine receptor signaling. In cell-based assays, incubation with the chemokine ligand CXCL12 (SDF-1) produced dose-dependent increases in bioluminescence with >7-fold induction above basal levels of association between these proteins. Reporter activation could be blocked with specific inhibitors of CXCR4 signaling. These reporters enabled in vivo imaging of CXCR4 activation and inhibition in living mice. Overall, this research establishes a new imaging reporter for probing CXCR4 signaling in cancer and other diseases regulated by this chemokine receptor.
| S-EPMC5258185 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHuman interactome is predicted to contain 150,000 to 300,000 protein-protein interactions, (PPIs). Protein-fragment complementation assay (PCA) is one of the most widely used methods to detect PPI, as well as Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). To date, successful applications of firefly luciferase (Fluc)-based PCA have been reported in vivo, in cultured cells and in cell-free lysate, owing to its high sensitivity, high signal-to-background (S/B) ratio, and reversible response. Here we show the assay also works with purified proteins with unexpectedly rapid kinetics.ResultsSplit Fluc fragments both fused with a rapamycin-dependently interacting protein pair were made and expressed in E. coli system, and purified to homogeneity. When the proteins were used for PCA to detect rapamycin-dependent PPI, they enabled a rapid detection (~1 s) of PPI with high S/B ratio. When Fn7-8 domains (7 nm in length) that was shown to abrogate GFP mutant-based FRET was inserted between split Fluc and FKBP12 as a rigid linker, it still showed some response, suggesting less limitation in interacting partner's size. Finally, the stability of the probe was investigated. Preincubation of the probes at 37 degree C up to 1 h showed marked decrease of the luminescent signal to 1.5%, showing the limited stability of this system.ConclusionFluc PCA using purified components will enable a rapid and handy detection of PPIs with high S/B ratio, avoiding the effects of concomitant components. Although the system might not be suitable for large-scale screening due to its limited stability, it can detect an interaction over larger distance than by FRET. This would be the first demonstration of Fluc PCA in vitro, which has a distinct advantage over other PPI assays. Our system enables detection of direct PPIs without risk of perturbation by PPI mediators in the complex cellular milieu.
| S-EPMC3626928 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Seven-transmembrane (G-protein coupled) receptors are key regulators of normal physiology and a large number of diseases, and this family of receptors is the target for almost half of all drugs. Cell culture models suggest that homodimerization and heterodimerization of 7-transmembrane receptors regulate processes including specificity of ligand binding and activation of downstream signaling pathways, making receptor dimerization a critical determinant of receptor biology and a promising new therapeutic target. To monitor receptor dimerization in cell-based assays and living animals, we developed a protein fragment complementation assay based on firefly luciferase to investigate dimerization of chemokine receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7, two 7-transmembrane receptors with central functions in normal development, cancer, and other diseases. Treatment with chemokine ligands and pharmacologic agents produced time- and dose-dependent changes in reporter signal. Chemokines regulated reporter bioluminescence for CXCR4 or CXCR7 homodimers without affecting signals from receptor heterodimers. In a tumor xenograft model of breast cancer, we used bioluminescence imaging to measure changes in receptor homodimerization in response to pharmacologic agents. This technology should be valuable for analyzing function and therapeutic modulation of receptor dimerization in intact cells and living mice.
| S-EPMC2653984 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily represents the most important class of pharmaceutical targets. Therefore, the characterization of receptor cascades and their ligands is a prerequisite to discovering novel drugs. Quantification of agonist-induced second messengers and downstream-coupled kinase activities is central to characterization of GPCRs or other pathways that converge on GPCR-mediated signaling. Furthermore, there is a need for simple, cell-based assays that would report on direct or indirect actions on GPCR-mediated effectors of signaling. More generally, there is a demand for sensitive assays to quantify alterations of protein complexes in vivo. We describe the development of a Renilla luciferase (Rluc)-based protein fragment complementation assay (PCA) that was designed specifically to investigate dynamic protein complexes. We demonstrate these features for GPCR-induced disassembly of protein kinase A (PKA) regulatory and catalytic subunits, a key effector of GPCR signaling. Taken together, our observations show that the PCA allows for direct and accurate measurements of live changes of absolute values of protein complex assembly and disassembly as well as cellular imaging and dynamic localization of protein complexes. Moreover, the Rluc-PCA has a sufficiently high signal-to-background ratio to identify endogenously expressed Galpha(s) protein-coupled receptors. We provide pharmacological evidence that the phosphodiesterase-4 family selectively down-regulates constitutive beta-2 adrenergic- but not vasopressin-2 receptor-mediated PKA activities. Our results show that the sensitivity of the Rluc-PCA simplifies the recording of pharmacological profiles of GPCR-based candidate drugs and could be extended to high-throughput screens to identify novel direct modulators of PKA or upstream components of GPCR signaling cascades.
| S-EPMC2040481 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A critical challenge for all organisms is to carefully control the amount of lipids they store. An important node for this regulation is the protein coat present at the surface of lipid droplets (LDs), the intracellular organelles dedicated to lipid storage. Only limited aspects of this regulation are understood so far. For the probably best characterized case, the regulation of lipolysis in mammals, some of the major protein players have been identified, and it has been established that this process crucially depends on an orchestrated set of protein-protein interactions. Proteomic analysis has revealed that LDs are associated with dozens, if not hundreds, of different proteins, most of them poorly characterized, with even fewer data regarding which of them might physically interact. To comprehensively understand the mechanism of lipid storage regulation, it will likely be essential to define the interactome of LD-associated proteins.Previous studies of such interactions were hampered by technical limitations. Therefore, we have developed a split-luciferase based protein-protein interaction assay and test for interactions among 47 proteins from Drosophila and from mouse. We confirmed previously described interactions and identified many new ones. In 1561 complementation tests, we assayed for interactions among 487 protein pairs of which 92 (19%) resulted in a successful luciferase complementation. These results suggest that a prominent fraction of the LD-associated proteome participates in protein-protein interactions.In targeted experiments, we analyzed the two proteins Jabba and CG9186 in greater detail. Jabba mediates the sequestration of histones to LDs. We successfully applied our split luciferase complementation assay to learn more about this function as we were e.g. able to map the interaction between Jabba and histones. For CG9186, expression levels affect the positioning of LDs. Here, we reveal the ubiquitination of CG9186, and link this posttranslational modification to LD cluster induction.
| S-EPMC5340998 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Phosphorylation is a key regulation event in cellular signaling. Sensing the underlying kinase activity is of crucial importance for its fundamental understanding and for drug development. For this, modular kinase activity sensing concepts are urgently needed. We engineered modular serine kinase sensors based on complementation of split NanoBiT luciferase on protein assembly platforms generated from the scaffold protein 14-3-3. The bioengineered platforms are modular and easy adaptable as exemplary shown using novel sensors for the kinases PKA, PKB, and CHK1. Two designs were conceptualized, both relying on binding of defined mono- or bivalent kinase recognition motifs to the 14-3-3 platform upon phosphorylation, resulting in reconstitution of active split-luciferase. Especially the design based on double phosphorylation and bivalent 14-3-3 binding exhibits high efficiency for signal amplification (>1000-fold) and sensitivity to specific kinases, including in cellular lysates.
| S-EPMC7446724 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The regulation of organismic lipid storage amounts is a central goal of all organisms. Proteins associated with the dedicated lipid storage organelles, the so-called lipid droplets (LDs), are instrumental to this regulation. LD proteomes of diverse organisms have been characterized by mass spectrometry. Yet, the functional characterization of most of these proteins is still lagging behind. Moreover, knowledge of interactions among LD-associated proteins is sparse and mostly limited to proteins involved in mammalian lipolysis regulation. This process crucially depends on an orchestrated set of protein-protein interactions which limit the accessibility, and thus remobilization, of the lipid stores. Thus, a better knowledge of the LD-associated protein interactome likely reveals entry points to deeper understand lipid storage regulation on a mechanistic level. Here, we utilize a split-luciferase based protein-protein interaction assay to identify interactions among 46 LD-associated proteins and protein variants of which 40 are Drosophila and 6 mouse proteins. In 1531 complementation tests, we assayed for interactions among 487 luciferase fragment fusion protein pairs (covered by 830 different construct combinations) of which 85 (17.45 %) resulted in a significant luciferase complementation. These results suggest, that a prominent fraction of the LD-associated proteome participates in protein-protein interactions, and provide a basis for further functional studies. Besides confirming previously described interactions, we identified several new protein interaction pairs. Of these, we characterize the following three in greater detail: (i) Jabba and CG9186, (ii) Jabba and Histones and (iii) Ubiquitin and CG9186. The interaction among Jabba and Histones is of physiological significance and we provide data suggesting that Jabba alone is sufficient to recruit Histones to LDs. Further, we identified a positively charged amino acid stretch of 16 amino acids within the Jabba protein which is necessary for the Jabba-Histone interaction. CG9186 is an annotated esterase which is involved in lipid storage amount regulation and positioning of LDs. We present data supporting the ubiquitination of at least two lysine residues of CG9186 and demonstrate a role of CG9186 ubiquitination in the induction of LD clusters linked to the overexpression of CG9186.
2016-12-22 | PXD003944 | Pride