title: Use of bimolecular fluorescence complementation to study in vivo interactions between Cdc42p and Rdi1p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
abstract: Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cdc42p functions as a GTPase molecular switch, activating multiple signaling pathways required to regulate cell cycle progression and the actin cytoskeleton. Regulatory proteins control its GTP binding and hydrolysis and its subcellular localization, ensuring that Cdc42p is appropriately activated and localized at sites of polarized growth during the cell cycle. One of these, the Rdi1p guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor, negatively regulates Cdc42p by extracting it from cellular membranes. In this study, the technique of bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) was used to study the dynamic in vivo interactions between Cdc42p and Rdi1p. The BiFC data indicated that Cdc42p and Rdi1p interacted in the cytoplasm and around the periphery of the cell at the plasma membrane and that this interaction was enhanced at sites of polarized cell growth during the cell cycle, i.e., incipient bud sites, tips and sides of small- and medium-sized buds, and the mother-bud neck region. In addition, a ring-like structure containing the Cdc42p-Rdi1p complex transiently appeared following release from G1-phase cell cycle arrest. A homology model of the Cdc42p-Rdi1p complex was used to introduce mutations that were predicted to affect complex formation. These mutations resulted in altered BiFC interactions, restricting the complex exclusively to either the plasma membrane or the cytoplasm. Data from these studies have facilitated the temporal and spatial modeling of Rdi1p-dependent extraction of Cdc42p from the plasma membrane during the cell cycle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, 202 Stafford Hall, 95 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Karen C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Heather W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Douglas I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020730:Guanine Nucleotide Dissociation Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D008958:Models, Molecular; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D011485:Protein Binding; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020846:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein, Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020730:Guanine Nucleotide Dissociation Inhibitors; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D020846:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein, Saccharomyces cerevisiae