Analysis of RhoA-binding proteins reveals an interaction domain conserved in heterotrimeric G protein beta subunits and the yeast response regulator protein Skn7

Abstract

To identify potential RhoA effector proteins, we conducted a two-hybrid screen for cDNAs encoding proteins that interact with a Gal4-RhoA.V14 fusion protein. In addition to the RhoA effector ROCK-I we identified cDNAs encoding Kinectin, mDia2 (a p140 mDia-related protein), and the guanine nucleotide exchange factor, mNET1. ROCK-I, Kinectin, and mDia2 can bind the wild type forms of both RhoA and Cdc42 in a GTP-dependent manner in vitro. Comparison of the ROCK-I and Kinectin sequences revealed a short region of sequence homology that is both required for interaction in the two-hybrid assay and sufficient for weak interaction in vitro. Sequences related to the ROCK-I/Kinectin sequence homology are present in heterotrimeric G protein beta subunits and in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Skn7 protein. We show that beta2 and Skn7 can interact with mammalian RhoA and Cdc42 and yeast Rho1, both in vivo and in vitro. Functional assays in yeast suggest that the Skn7 ROCK-I/Kinectin homology region is required for its function in vivo.