Split NanoLuc technology allows quantitation of interactions between PII protein and its receptors with unprecedented sensitivity and reveals transient interactions

PII proteins constitute a widespread signal transduction superfamily in the prokaryotic world. The canonical PII signal proteins sense metabolic state of the cells by binding the metabolite molecules ATP, ADP and 2-oxoglutarate. Depending on bound effector molecule, PII proteins interact with and modulate the activity of multiple target proteins. To investigate the complexity of interactions of PII with target proteins, analytical methods that do not disrupt the native cellular context are required. To this purpose, split luciferase proteins have been used to develop a novel complementation reporter called NanoLuc Binary Technology (NanoBiT). The luciferase NanoLuc is divided in two subunits: a 18 kDa polypeptide termed “Large BiT” and a 1.3 kDa peptide termed “Small BiT”, which only weakly associate. When fused to proteins of interest, they reconstitute an active luciferase when the proteins of interest interact. Therefore, we set out to develop a new NanoBiT sensor based on the interaction of PII protein from Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 with PII-interacting protein X (PipX) and N-acetyl-L-glutamate kinase (NAGK). The novel NanoBiT sensor showed unprecedented sensitivity, which made it possible to detect even weak and transient interactions between PII variants and their interacting partners, thereby shedding new light in PII signalling processes.