A modified-yeast system for examining protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions

ORGN 635

Gang Chen, gchen@utm.utoronto.ca and Jumi A. Shin, jshin@utm.utoronto.ca. Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
The yeast one-hybrid and two-hybrid systems are designed to investigate protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions, respectively. However, these two interactions are usually intertwined in vivo, and in some cases, protein-protein interaction is a prerequisite to protein-DNA interaction. Although the intertwinement may be dissected and investigated, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to detect individual interaction by the use of available techniques. In order to address this question, a modified yeast system was developed to simultaneously study relevant protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions using the basic region/leucine zipper (bZIP) protein family as a model.