Final Activity and Management Report Summary - ELEGANS MAPPING (Generation and analysis of a domain based interaction map of C. elegans early embryogenesis)
Protein-protein interactions are a key component of any biological process. With the recent availability of genomic sequences for various organisms, it is now possible to identify these interactions systematically on a large scale. Current genome-wide protein interaction maps are still far from complete and often lack important information needed to elucidate complex processes, such as the protein domains that mediate interactions. We developed a yeast two-hybrid approach to systematically identify interaction domains, and used it to define the interactions between 800 proteins required for the early embryonic cell divisions of the model organism C. elegans. These early embryonic divisions rely on basic mechanisms conserved across species. We are using the interactions and interaction domains identified to gain novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of fundamental principles such as asymmetric cell division.