Klin Onkol 2014; 27(Suppl 1): 82-86. DOI: 10.14735/amko20141S82.
Summary
Nowadays, in vivo protein-protein interaction studies have become preferable detecting methods that enable to show or specify (already known) protein interactions and discover their inhibitors. They also facilitate detection of protein conformational changes and discovery or specification of signaling pathways in living cells. One group of in vivo methods enabling these findings is based on fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) and its bioluminescent modification (BRET). They are based on visualization of protein-protein interactions via light or enzymatic excitation of fluorescent or bioluminescent proteins. These methods allow not only protein localization within the cell or its organelles (or small animals) but they also allow us to quantify fluorescent signals and to discover weak or strong interaction partners. In this review, we explain the principles of FRET and BRET, their applications in the characterization of protein- protein interactions and we describe several findings using these two methods that clarify molecular and cellular mechanisms and signals related to cancer biology.
