Conditionally controlling nuclear trafficking in yeast by chemical-induced protein dimerization

We present here a protocol to conditionally control the nuclear trafficking of target proteins in yeast. In this system, rapamycin is used to heterodimerize two chimeric proteins. One chimera consists of a FK506-binding protein (FKBP12) fused to a cellular 'address' (nuclear localization signal or nuclear export sequence). The second chimera consists of a target protein fused to a fluorescent protein and the FKBP12-rapamycin-binding (FRB) domain from FKBP-12-rapamycin associated protein 1 (FRAP1, also known as mTor). Rapamycin induces dimerization of the FKBP12- and FRB-containing chimeras; these interactions selectively place the target protein under control of the cell address, thereby directing the protein into or out of the nucleus. By chemical-induced dimerization, protein mislocalization is reversible and enables the identification of conditional loss-of-function and gain-of-function phenotypes, in contrast to other systems that require permanent modification of the targeted protein. Yeast strains for this analysis can be constructed in 1 week, and the technique allows protein mislocalization within 15 min after drug treatment.