Detection of protein-protein interactions in the nervous system using the two-hybrid system

Abstract

Specific interactions between proteins regulate nearly all cellular processes. In the nervous system specialized processes such as neuronal proliferation, differentiation and targeting, synapse formation and neurotransmitter release are all tightly controlled by cascades of protein-protein interactions. The extent and nature of these interactions is therefore a question of fundamental importance. The two-hybrid system, which is beginning to be widely applied in many other areas of cell biology, offers a novel and sensitive technique for the identification and analysis of these protein-protein interactions.