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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 279, Issue 28, 29528-29533, July 9, 2004

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Protein Interactions Involved in Nuclear Import of the Agrobacterium VirE2 Protein in Vivo and in Vitro^*

Vitaly Citovsky, Anat Kapelnikov¶, Shachar Oliel¶, Nehama Zakai¶, Maria R. Rojas||**, Robert L. Gilbertson**, Tzvi Tzfira, and Abraham Loyter¶

From the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5215, ^¶Department of Biological Chemistry, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel, and ^||Section of Plant Biology, Division of Biological Sciences and ^**Department of Plant Pathology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 9561

Agrobacterium, the only known organism capable of trans-kingdom DNA transfer, genetically transforms plants by transferring a segment of its DNA, T-DNA, into the nucleus of the host cell where it integrates into the plant genome. One of the central events in this genetic transformation process is nuclear import of the T-DNA molecule, which to a large degree is mediated by the bacterial virulence protein VirE2. VirE2 is distinguished by its nuclear targeting, which occurs only in plant but not in animal cells and is facilitated by the cellular VIP1 protein. The molecular mechanism of the VIP1 function is still unclear. Here, we used in vitro assays for nuclear import and quantification of protein-protein interactions to directly demonstrate formation of ternary complexes between VirE2, VIP1, and a component of the cellular nuclear import machinery, karyopherin . Our results indicate that VIP1 functions as a molecular bridge between VirE2 and karyopherin , allowing VirE2 to utilize the host cell nuclear import machinery even without being directly recognized by its components.

Received for publication, March 22, 2004 , and in revised form, April 12, 2004.

^* This work was supported by a grant from the U. S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) (to A. L. and V. C.). This work is also supported by grants from National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and U. S.-Israel Binational Research and Development Fund (BARD) (to V. C), from BARD and Human Frontiers Science Program (to T. T.), and from BARD (to A. L. and R. L. G.). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 631-632-9534; Fax: 631-632-8575; E-mail: vitaly.citovsky{at}stonybrook.edu.

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