The promyelocytic leukemia protein PML interacts with the proline-rich homeodomain protein PRH: a RING may link hematopoiesis and growth control

The yeast two-hybrid system and its pharmaceutical significance

The detected phenotypes in many diseases are caused from dysfunction in protein-protein, protein-DNA and receptor-ligand interactions. Therefore, determination of these molecular interactions followed by designing or screening the compounds to target these interactions provides a significant challenge in drug development. This review aims to highlight the yeast two-hybrid system in determination of protein-protein interactions and its possible outcomes in pharmaceutical research. The variations of the basic methodology as one- and three-hybrid systems are also discussed in relation to their potential pharmaceutical applications.

RING domains: master builders of molecular scaffolds?

Intense interest in the RING domain has arisen because of its widespread occurrence and involvement in human disease. Several intriguing characteristics evident from the study of this cysteine-rich, zinc-binding domain have made it difficult to establish a single defining biochemical function for RINGs. These proteins are found throughout the cell and mediate diverse cellular processes, e.g. oncogenesis, apoptosis, development and viral infection. Recent developments indicate that RING-mediated protein interactions are critical for transcriptional repression and for ubiquitination. These data are in addition to previously established functions for RINGs in RNA processing, cell-cycle control and peroxisomal biogenesis, to name a few. At first glance, there appears to be little to link such disparate actions. Collectively, these results suggest that RINGs function in formation and architecture of large protein complexes that contribute to diverse cellular processes. Here, new developments, in the context of previous results, are discussed in an attempt to establish a unifying theory for RING function.