A Protein Interaction Switch System Controlled by Small Molecules

Protein is the basic unit of all biological functions and the ultimate executor of all life activities. Proteins and the interactions between them exist in the life activities of each cell of an organism, form an intersecting network, and participate in a series of life processes such as genetic material replication, gene expression regulation, signal transduction, and immune response. Abnormal protein functions or the introduction of foreign pathogenic protein functions are the fundamental causes of major human diseases. Therefore, protein research is not only a major scientific issue but also one of the essential research fields closely related to human diseases.

How proteins function in the body of the cell is very important. Traditional protein-protein interaction research methods include Co-Immunoprecipitation, COIP, pull-down; FRET; BiFC; Y2H, etc. Profacgen provides various methods for protein detection, including but not limited to the above methods. The function research of intracellular proteins is not only through forward research, but reverse observation will lead to more discoveries. Reverse research methods include interfering with the function of a protein, blocking its interaction with other proteins, and observing and analyzing its response.

Figure 1 Luciferase-based methods of studying protein-protein interaction.^[1]

Currently, the commonly used methods for the reverse study of protein function are mainly regulated at the transcriptional level and less direct regulation at the protein level. Recently, some researchers have developed a new platform for the reverse study of protein interactions, through which the protein level can be directly regulated. By fusing the proteins of interest with specific tag proteins, they can display a detectable signal when they are physically approached and interact with each other. This interaction is disrupted when small molecules or other external signals are exogenously applied. Through this platform, the localization of the protein in the cell, the stability of the protein, and the activation and blocking of the signal pathway where the target protein is located can be effectively studied. In addition, the platform also has the advantages of high sensitivity, rapidity, reversibility, and easy operation. Therefore, this new platform has great potential in protein engineering research.

The Advantages of this platform include:

Reverse function study
High Sensitivity
Rapidity and Reversibility
Easy Operation

Potential Applications

Protein Research
Protein Interaction Research

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Please do not hesitate to contact us for more details if you are interested in this new method, and we will provide considerate service for you. At the same time, we also offer other services and biomarker products; please move to our website for more details.

Reference

Pipchuk A, Yang X. Using Biosensors to Study Protein-Protein Interaction in the Hippo Pathway. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Apr 26; 9: 660137. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.660137.