Determination of dissociation constants in living zebrafish embryos with single wavelength fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy

Abstract

The quantification of biological interactions is very important in life sciences. Here we report for the first time, to our knowledge, the determination of a biomolecular dissociation constant (KD) in living zebrafish embryos at physiological protein expression levels. For that purpose, we extend the application of single wavelength fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy into small organisms and measure the interaction of Cdc42, a small Rho-GTPase, and IQGAP1, an actin-binding scaffolding protein. Cdc42 and IQGAP1 were labeled with monomeric red fluorescent protein and enhanced green fluorescent protein, respectively. Both fluorophores were excited at a single wavelength of 514 nm, simplifying the fluorescence spectroscopy measurements and allowing quantification. For the determination of the interaction, we used two Cdc42 mutants, the constitutively active Cdc42G12V which is in a predominantly GTP-bound form and the dominant-negative GDP-bound Cdc42 T17N. While Cdc42G12V binds to IQGAP1 with an apparent KD of ∼100 nM, Cdc42T17N has at least a one-order-of-magnitude lower affinity for the same protein. As a comparison, we measure the same protein-protein interactions in Chinese hamster ovary cell cultures but observe significant differences in protein mobility and KD from the zebrafish measurements, supporting the notion that bimolecular interactions depend on the biological systemunder investigation and are best performed under physiologically relevant conditions. © 2009 by the Biophysical Society.