Yeast two-hybrid screening identified WDR77 as a novel interacting partner of TSC22D2.

Abstract

Transforming growth factor β-stimulated clone 22 domain family, member 2 (TSC22D2), a member of the TSC22D family, has been implicated as a tumor-associated gene, but its function remains unknown. To further explore its biological role, yeast two-hybrid screening combined with multiple bioinformatics tools was used to identify 44 potential interacting partners of the TSC22D2 protein that were mainly involved in gene transcription, cellular metabolism, and cell cycle regulation. The protein WD repeat domain 77 (WDR77) was selected for further validation due to its function in the cell cycle and tumor development, as well as its high detection frequency in the yeast two-hybrid assay. Immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence experiments confirmed an interaction between the TSC22D2 and WDR77 proteins. Our work greatly expands the putative protein interaction network of TSC22D2 and provides deeper insight into the biological functions of the TSC22D2 and WDR77 proteins.