Applications of the yeast two-hybrid system

In recent years, the yeast two-hybrid system has become the method of choic e for detection and analysis of protein-protein interactions in an in vivo context. This system, which capitalizes on the significant genetic history and ease of protocols for manipulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is acce ssible to most laboratories and is applicable to the pursuit of a large var iety of experimental goals. To date, the two-hybrid system has seen widespr ead application for identification of interaction partners by screening met hods using a particular protein of interest as a "bait." Large-scale ventur es are also in progress, for example, a cataloging of interactions among th e cellular proteins in yeast. However, this method also has tremendous pote ntial for more focused analyses of specific proteins and should become more routine as an alternative or adjunct approach for many structure-function investigations. (C) 1999 Academic Press.