Proteins interacting with Saccharomyces cerevisiae type 1 protein phosphatase catalytic subunit identified by single-step affinity purification and mass spectrometry.

The catalytic subunit of type 1 protein phosphatase (PP1C) interacts with a large number of polypeptides in eukaryotic cells from yeast to man and these regulatory subunits can both modulate the activity of PP1C and target it to different subcellular locations. Thus, PP1 is really a family of protein phosphatases that share a common catalytic subunit, and identifying and characterizing the PP1-associated proteins is therefore critical to understanding the cellular roles of PP1 and its ability to dephosphorylate specific substrates. Here we describe methods for affinity isolation of PP1C-containing protein complexes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the identification of the associated polypeptides by mass spectrometry. The basic method we describe could be easily adapted to study PP1C-associated proteins in other lower or higher eukaryotes and for characterizing the protein-protein interactions of other protein phosphatases in yeast.

Novel interactions of Saccharomyces cerevisiae type 1 protein phosphatase identified by single-step affinity purification and mass spectrometry.

The catalytic subunit of Saccharomyces cerevisiae type 1 protein phosphatase (PP1(C)) is encoded by the essential gene GLC7 and is involved in regulating diverse cellular processes. To identify potential regulatory or targeting subunits of yeast PP1(C), we tagged Glc7p at its amino terminus with protein A and affinity-purified Glc7p protein complexes from yeast. The purified proteins were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and identified by peptide mass fingerprint analysis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. To confirm the accuracy of our identifications, peptides from some of the proteins were also sequenced using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Only four of the Glc7p-associated proteins that we identified (Mhp1p, Bni4p, Ref2p, and Sds22p) have previously been shown to interact with Glc7p, and multiple components of the CPF (cleavage and polyadenylation factor) complex involved in messenger RNA 3'-end processing were present as major components in the Glc7p-associated protein fraction. To confirm the interaction of Glc7p with this complex, we used the same approach to purify and characterize the components of the yeast CPF complex using protein A-tagged Pta1p. Six known components of the yeast (CPF) complex, together with Glc7p, were identified among the Pta1p-associated polypeptides using peptide mass fingerprint analysis. Thus Glc7p is a novel component of the CPF complex and may therefore be involved regulating mRNA 3'-end processing.