Broad-scale protein-protein interaction mapping is a major challenge given the cost, time, and sensitivity constraints of existing technologies. Here, we present a massively-multiplexed yeast two-hybrid method, CrY2H-seq, that uses a Cre recombinase interaction reporter to intracellularly fuse the coding sequences of two interacting proteins, and next-generation DNA sequencing to identify these interactions en masse. We applied CrY2H-seq to investigate sparsely annotated combinatorial interactions among plant transcription factors. By performing ten independent CrY2H-seq screens each testing 3.6 million interaction combinations, and reporting a deep coverage network of 8,577 interactions among 1,453 transcription factors, we demonstrate CrY2H-seq’s improved capacity, efficiency, and sensitivity over existing technologies. In addition to recapitulating one third of previously reported interactions derived from diverse methods, we expand the number of reported plant transcription factor interactions by three-fold, revealing previously unknown family-specific interaction module associations with plant reproductive development, root architecture, and circadian coordination.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD)is responsible for the ubiquitin-mediated destruction of both misfolded and normal ER-resident proteins. ERAD substrates must be moved from the ER to the cytoplasm for ubiquitination and proteasomal destruction by a process called retrotranslocation. Many aspects of retrotranslocation are poorly understood, including its generality, the cellular components required, the energetics, and the mechanism of transfer through the ER membrane. To address these questions, we have developed an in vitro assay, using the 8-transmembrane span ER-resident Hmg2p isozyme of HMG-CoA reductase fused to GFP, which undergoes regulated ERAD mediated by the Hrd1p ubiquitin ligase. We have now directly demonstrated in vitro retrotranslocation of full-length, ubiquitinated Hmg2p-GFP to the aqueous phase. Hrd1p was rate-limiting for Hmg2p-GFP retrotranslocation, which required ATP, the AAA-ATPase Cdc48p, and its receptor Ubx2p. In addition, the adaptors Dsk2p and Rad23p, normally implicated in later parts of the pathway, were required. Hmg2p-GFP retrotranslocation did not depend on any of the proposed ER channel candidates. To examine the role of the Hrd1p transmembrane domain as a retrotranslocon, we devised a self-ubiquitinating polytopic substrate (Hmg1-Hrd1p) that undergoes ERAD in the absence of Hrd1p. In vitro retrotranslocation of full-length Hmg1-Hrd1p occurred in the absence of the Hrd1p transmembrane domain, indicating that it did not serve a required channel function. These studies directly demonstrate polytopic membrane protein retrotranslocation during ERAD and delineate avenues for mechanistic understanding of this general process. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)2 -associated degradation (ERAD) pathway mediates the destruction of numerous integral membrane or lumenal ER-localized proteins (1, 2). ERAD functions mainly in the disposal of misfolded or unassembled proteins but also participates in the physiological regulation of some normal residents of the organelle. This ER-localized degradation pathway has been implicated in a wide variety of normal and pathophysiological processes, including sterol synthesis (3, 4), rheumatoid arthritis (5), fungal differentiation (6), cystic fibrosis (7, 8), and several neurodegenerative diseases (9). Accordingly, there is great impetus to understand the molecular mechanisms that mediate this broadly important route of protein degradation.ERAD proceeds by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, by which an ER-localized substrate is covalently modified by the addition of multiple copies of 7.6-kDa ubiquitin to form a multiubiquitin chain that is recognized by the cytosolic 26S proteasome (10, 11). Ubiquitin is added to the substrate by the successive action of three enzymes. The E1 ubiquitin-activating enzyme uses ATP to covalently add ubiquitin to an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating (UBC) enzyme. Ubiquitin is then transferred from the charged E2 to the substrate or the growing ubiquitin chain by the action of an E3 ubiquitin ligase, resulting in a...

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3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl (HMG)-CoA reductase (HMGR), the rate-limiting enzymes of sterol synthesis, undergoes feedback-regulated endoplasmic reticulum degradation in both mammals and yeast. The yeast Hmg2p isozyme is subject to ubiquitin-mediated endoplasmic reticulum degradation by the HRD pathway. We had previously shown that alterations in cellular levels of the 15-carbon sterol pathway intermediate farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) cause increased Hmg2p ubiquitination and degradation. We now present evidence that the FPP-derived, 20-carbon molecule geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) is a potent endogenous regulator of Hmg2p degradation. This work was launched by the unexpected observation that GGPP addition directly to living yeast cultures caused high potency and specific stimulation of Hmg2p degradation. This effect of GGPP was not recapitulated by FPP, GGOH, or related isoprenoids. GGPP-caused Hmg2p degradation met all the criteria for the previously characterized endogenous signal. The action of added GGPP did not require production of endogenous sterol molecules, indicating that it did not act by causing the build-up of an endogenous pathway signal. Manipulation of endogenous GGPP by several means showed that naturally made GGPP controls Hmg2p stability. Analysis of the action of GGPP indicated that the molecule works upstream of retrotranslocation and can directly alter the structure of Hmg2p. We propose that GGPP is the FPP-derived regulator of Hmg2p ubiquitination. Intriguingly, the sterol-dependent degradation of mammalian HMGR is similarly stimulated by the addition of GGOH to intact cells, implying that a dependence on 20-carbon geranylgeranyl signals may be a common conserved feature of HMGR regulation that may lead to highly specific therapeutic approaches for modulation of HMGR.

INSIGs are proteins that underlie sterol regulation of the mammalian proteins SCAP (SREBP cleavage activating protein) and HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR). The INSIGs perform distinct tasks in the regulation of these effectors: they promote ER retention of SCAP, but ubiquitinmediated degradation of HMGR. Two questions that arise from the discovery and study of INSIGs are: how do they perform these distinct tasks, and how general are the actions of INSIGs in biology? We now show that the yeast INSIG homologs NSG1 and NSG2 function to control the stability of yeast Hmg2p, the HMGR isozyme that undergoes regulated ubiquitination. Yeast Nsgs inhibit degradation of Hmg2p in a highly specific manner, by directly interacting with the sterol-sensing domain (SSD)-containing transmembrane region. Nsg1p functions naturally to limit degradation of Hmg2p when both proteins are at native levels, indicating a long-standing functional interplay between these two classes of proteins. One way to unify the known, disparate actions of INSIGs is to view them as known adaptations of a chaperone dedicated to SSD-containing client proteins.