Yeast Two-Hybrid System for Studying Protein-Protein Interactions--Stage 2: Transforming and Characterizing the Library

Abstract

An important element in the characterization of the function of a protein is the identification of other proteins with which it interacts. A powerful genetic strategy for this purpose, termed the "yeast two-hybrid system," uses transcriptional reporters in yeast to indirectly reflect the interaction between two proteins. The term "two-hybrid" derives from the two classes of chimeric, or "hybrid," proteins used in each screen. The first, commonly referred to as the "bait," is a fusion of a protein of interest "x" with a DNA-binding domain (DBD-x). The second, sometimes called the "prey," is a fusion of a cDNA library "y" to a transcriptional activation domain (AD-y). Together, DBD-x and AD-y provide the basis of the detection system. The two-hybrid approach has gained wide popularity because of the relative ease and speed with which it can be used to identify novel protein-protein interactions and to analyze known interactions. The second stage of the method, described in this protocol, includes the transformation of yeast with a cDNA library, followed by library characterization. It can be performed in parallel with construction of a bait protein (stage 1).