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Protein-dependent ribozymes report molecular interactions in real time

Nature Biotechnology volume 20, pages 717–722 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Most approaches to monitoring interactions between biological macromolecules require large amounts of material, rely upon the covalent modification of an interaction partner, or are not amenable to real-time detection. We have developed a generalizable assay system based on interactions between proteins and reporter ribozymes. The assay can be configured in a modular fashion to monitor the presence and concentration of a protein or of molecules that modulate protein function. We report two applications of the assay: screening for a small molecule that disrupts protein binding to its nucleic acid target and screening for protein–protein interactions. We screened a structurally diverse library of antibiotics for small molecules that modulate the activity of HIV-1 Rev-responsive ribozymes by binding to Rev. We identified an inhibitor that subsequently inhibited HIV-1 replication in cells. A simple format switch allowed reliable monitoring of domain-specific interactions between the blood-clotting factor thrombin and its protein partners. The rapid identification of interactions between proteins or of compounds that disrupt such interactions should have substantial utility for the drug-discovery process.

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Figure 1: Rev-responsive and aptamer-inhibited ribozymes.
Figure 2: Interaction of Rev with small molecules.
Figure 3: Coumermycin A1 inhibits HIV-1 replication.
Figure 4: Specific protein–protein interactions as a function of cleavage activities for AHH-Thr and AHP-Thr.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (to M.F.) and by National Institutes of Health grants AI-36083 and GM-61789 (to A.D.E.). We thank Julian Davies (University of Vancouver) for providing the antibiotics library, Christoph Müller (European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Grenoble) for NFκB, p52, and Bcl-3, Tobias Restle (Max-Planck-Insititut für Molekulare Physiologie, Dortmund) for HIV-RT, Günter Mayer for helpful discussions, and Michael Hoch and Waldemar Kolanus (University of Bonn) for comments on the manuscript. The following reagents were obtained through the National Institutes of Health AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases): HIV-1 Tat protein from John Brady and H9 cells and HIV-1IIIb from Robert Gallo.

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  1. Kekulé Institut für Organische Chemie und Biochemie, University of Bonn, Gerhard-Domagk-Strasse 1, Bonn, 53121, Germany

    Jörg S. Hartig, S. Hani Najafi-Shoushtari, Imke Grüne & Michael Famulok

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of Texas, University of Texas, ICMB A4800/MBB 3.448BA, 26th and Speedway, Austin, 78712, TX

    Amy Yan & Andrew D. Ellington

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Correspondence to Michael Famulok.

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A patent application on this work has been submitted on behalf of Nascacell GmbH, (Tutzing, Germany).

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Hartig, J., Najafi-Shoushtari, S., Grüne, I. et al. Protein-dependent ribozymes report molecular interactions in real time. Nat Biotechnol 20, 717–722 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0702-717

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