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Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) functions as an adaptor, positively regulating the NF-kappaB pathway. Here we report a new function of human TRAF6, the direct stimulation of apoptosis. The mechanism of apoptosis induction results from the capacity of human TRAF6 to interact and activate caspase 8. Both the C-terminal TRAF domain of human TRAF6, which directly interacts with the death effector domain of pro-caspase 8, and the N-terminal RING domain, which is required for activation of caspase 8, are necessary for the induction of apoptosis. The role of endogenous TRAF6 in regulating apoptosis was confirmed by extinguishing TRAF6 expression with specific small-hairpin RNA that resulted in diminished spontaneous apoptosis and resistance to induced apoptosis. In contrast to the human molecule, murine TRAF6 displayed less ability to induce apoptosis and a greater capacity to stimulate NF-kappaB activity. Human and murine TRAF6 are similar except in the region between zinc finger 5 and the TRAF domains. Reciprocal transfer of this connecting region completely exchanged the ability of human and murine TRAF6 to induce apoptosis and activate NF-kappaB. Unique regions of TRAF6 therefore play an important role in determining cell fate.

The availability of protein fluorophores with appropriate spectral properties has made it possible to employ fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to assess interactions between three proteins microscopically. Flow cytometry offers excellent sensitivity, effective signal separation and the capacity to assess a large number of events, and, therefore, should be an ideal means to explore protein interactions in living cells. Here, we report a flow-cytometric FRET technique that employed both direct energy transfer from CFP-->YFP-->mRFP and donor quenching to assess TRAF2 trimerization in living cells. Initially, a series of fusion proteins incorporating CFP, YFP and mRFP with spacers that did or did not permit FRET were employed to document the magnitude of CFP-->YFP and YFP-->mRFP FRET and to calculate the efficiency of CFP-->YFP-->mRFP two-step FRET. Based upon this, TRAF2 homotrimerization could be detected. This method should have great utility in studying the dynamics of interactions between three specific proteins in vivo.

FRET experiments utilizing confocal microscopy or flow cytometry assessed homo- and heterotrimeric association of human tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factors (TRAF) in living cells. Following transfection of HeLa cells with plasmids expressing CFP- or YFP-TRAF fusion proteins, constitutive homotypic association of TRAF2, -3, and -5 was observed, as well as heterotypic association of TRAF1-TRAF2 and TRAF3-TRAF5. A novel heterotypic association between TRAF2 and -3 was detected and confirmed by immunoprecipitation in Ramos B cells that constitutively express both TRAF2 and -3. Experiments employing deletion mutants of TRAF2 and TRAF3 revealed that this heterotypic interaction minimally involved the TRAF-C domain of TRAF3 as well as the TRAF-N domain and zinc fingers 4 and 5 of TRAF2. A novel flow cytometric FRET analysis utilizing a two-step approach to achieve linked FRET from CFP to YFP to HcRed established that TRAF2 and -3 constitutively form homo- and heterotrimers. The functional importance of TRAF2-TRAF3 heterotrimerization was demonstrated by the finding that TRAF3 inhibited spontaneous NF-kappaB, but not AP-1, activation induced by TRAF2. Ligation of CD40 on Ramos B cells by recombinant CD154 caused TRAF2 and TRAF3 to dissociate, whereas overexpression of TRAF3 in Ramos B cells inhibited CD154-induced TRAF2-mediated activation of NF-kappaB. Together, these results reveal a novel association between TRAF2 and TRAF3 that is mediated by unique portions of each protein and that specifically regulates activation of NF-kappaB, but not AP-1.

Background: Protein interactions at the molecular level can be measured by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) using a pair of fluorescent proteins, such as CFP and YFP, in which the emission spectrum of CFP significantly overlaps the excitation spectrum of YFP. The resulting energy given off from the donor CFP protein can directly excite the acceptor YFP protein when the proteins are closely approximated. During FRET, there is quenching of the emission of the donor CFP protein that is directly related to the efficiency of energy transfer and inversely proportional to the sixth power of the distance between the donor and acceptor proteins. In this study we describe a new approach to visualize donor CFP quenching during CFP-->YFP FRET and demonstrate how this parameter can be used to calculate FRET efficiency., Methods: A novel flow cytometric method to detect protein-protein interactions in living cells was developed that utilized assessment of CFP donor quenching during CFP-->YFP FRET by comparing CFP intensity between FRET-positive and -negative populations. To accomplish this, we compared the CFP intensity in FRET-positive and FRET-negative cells within the same population transfected with a CFP/YFP fusion protein, in which the molar ratio of CFP:YFP was one. By using separate lasers to excite CFP and YFP, the detection of FRET was separated from that of YFP. Therefore, after direct excitation, the YFP emission spectrum remained constant in all transfected cells, whereas the emission spectrum of CFP varied with the extent of FRET in individual cells. Specific CFP/YFP fusion constructs were prepared to evaluate this approach. The first one consisted of CFP and YFP separated by two caspase cleavage sites (CFP-LEVD-YFP). A second construct consisted of CFP and YFP separated by a structurally restricted 232-amino acid (aa) spacer. No FRET was observed by transfectants expressing this construct., Results: Transfection of CFP-LEVD-YFP into Hela cells resulted in a FRET-positive population and a FRET-negative one. The appearance of the FRET-negative population was inhibited by the caspase inhibitor z-VAD. Moreover, substituting D for A in the caspase cleavage sites of this probe abolished the FRET-negative population, demonstrating the probe's specificity for caspase activity. Comparison of the CFP emission in the FRET-positive and FRET-negative population was used to document the relationship of FRET to donor quenching and permit the calculation of FRET efficiency and relative molecular distance between CFP and YFP. Similar results were noted when cells transfected with the caspase-sensitive probe (in the presence of z-VAD) were mixed with cells expressing the CFP-YFP construct with the 232-aa spacer and therefore were FRET negative. This demonstrated the validity of calculating CFP donor quenching and FRET efficiency by comparing emission spectra of an unknown construct with that of a known positive control, both expressed by the same population of cells. Using this approach, we confirmed that members of the TNF receptor-associated factor (TRAF) family engaged in both homotypic and heterotypic interactions., Conclusions: We have established a novel flow cytometric approach to assess donor CFP quenching during CFP-->YFP FRET, which can be used for the calculation of FRET efficiency and relative biological molecular distance between CFP and YFP moieties. This method can be used not only to analyze cells that express a CFP and YFP fusion protein, but also independent CFP-coupled and YFP-coupled interacting proteins.