Offenborn JN, Waadt R, Kudla J. Visualization and translocation of ternary Calcineurin-A/Calcineurin-B/Calmodulin-2 protein complexes by dual-color trimolecular fluorescence complementation.
New Phytol 2015;
208:269-79. [PMID:
25919910 DOI:
10.1111/nph.13439]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2015] [Accepted: 03/31/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Fluorescence complementation (FC) techniques are expedient for analyzing bimolecular protein-protein interactions. Here we aimed to develop a method for visualization of ternary protein complexes using dual-color trimolecular fluorescence complementation (TriFC). Dual-color TriFC combines protein fragments of mCherry and mVenus, in which a scaffold protein is bilaterally fused to C-terminal fragments of both fluorescent proteins and combined with potential interacting proteins fused to an N-terminal fluorescent protein fragment. For efficient visual verification of ternary complex formation, TriFC was combined with a cytoplasm to plasma membrane translocation assay. Modular vector sets were designed which are fully compatible with previously reported bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) vectors. As a proof-of-principle, the ternary complex formation of the PP2B protein phosphatase Calcineurin-A/Calcineurin-B with Calmodulin-2 was investigated in transiently transformed Nicotiana benthamiana leaf epidermal cells. The results indicate a Calcineurin-B-induced interaction of Calmodulin-2 with Calcineurin-A. TriFC and the translocation of TriFC complexes provide a novel tool to investigate ternary complex formations with the simplicity of a BiFC approach. The robustness of FC applications and the opportunity to quantify fluorescence complementation render this assay suitable for a broad range of interaction analyses.
Collapse