NanoLuc luciferase as a quantitative yeast two-hybrid reporter.

The yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay is a powerful technique to identify protein-protein interactions. However, the auxotrophic markers that are the most common Y2H reporters take several days to yield data and require subjective assessment of semiquantitative data to identify interactions. Several reporters have been developed to overcome these disadvantages, but there is still a need for a Y2H reporter that is objective, fast and able to be performed with common laboratory equipment. In this report, we replaced the ADE2 reporter in BK100 with NanoLuc luciferase to yield BK100Nano. We developed an optimized assay to measure NanoLuc activity in 96-well plates and analyzed a set of 74 pairs identified in Y2H library screens, which revealed 44 positive interactions using an unbiased cutoff based on the mean luminescence of negative control samples. The same set was also tested for growth on Y2H selection medium via expression of the HIS3 reporter. We found 91% agreement between the two assays, with discrepancies attributed to weak interactions that displayed variable growth on Y2H medium. Overall, the new BK100Nano strain establishes a quantitative and convenient method to identify Y2H interactions and has potential to be applied to a high throughput manner.

Zika virus NS5 localizes at centrosomes during cell division.

Zika virus (ZIKV) nonstructural protein 5 (NS5) plays a critical role in viral RNA replication and mediates key virus-host cell interactions. As with other flavivirus NS5 proteins, ZIKV NS5 is primarily found in the nucleus. We previously reported that the NS5 protein of dengue virus, another flavivirus, localized to centrosomes during cell division. Here we show that ZIKV NS5 also relocalizes from the nucleus to centrosomes during mitosis. In infected cells with supernumerary centrosomes, NS5 was present at all centrosomes. Transient expression of NS5 in uninfected cells confirmed that centrosomal localization was independent of other viral proteins. Live-cell imaging demonstrated that NS5-GFP accumulated at centrosomes shortly after break down of nuclear membrane and remained there through mitosis. Cells expressing NS5-GFP took longer to complete mitosis than control cells. Finally, an analysis of ZIKV NS5 binding partners revealed several centrosomal proteins, providing potential direct links between NS5 and centrosomes.