The Drosophila (fruit fly) model system has been instrumental in our current understanding of human biology, development, and diseases. Here, we used a high-throughput yeast two-hybrid (Y2H)-based technology to screen 102 bait proteins from Drosophila melanogaster, most of them orthologous to human cancer-related and/or signaling proteins, against high-complexity fly cDNA libraries. More than 2300 protein-protein interactions (PPI) were identified, of which 710 are of high confidence. The computation of a reliability score for each protein-protein interaction and the systematic identification of the interacting domain combined with a prediction of structural/functional motifs allow the elaboration of known complexes and the identification of new ones.

Abscission is the least understood step of cytokinesis. It consists of the final cut of the intercellular bridge connecting the sister cells at the end of mitosis, and is thought to involve membrane trafficking as well as lipid and cytoskeleton remodelling. We previously identified the Rab35 GTPase as a regulator of a fast recycling endocytic pathway that is essential for post-furrowing cytokinesis stages. Here, we report that the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) 5-phosphatase OCRL, which is mutated in Lowe syndrome patients, is an effector of the Rab35 GTPase in cytokinesis abscission. GTP-bound (active) Rab35 directly interacts with OCRL and controls its localization at the intercellular bridge. Depletion of Rab35 or OCRL inhibits cytokinesis abscission and is associated with local abnormal PtdIns(4,5)P2 and F-actin accumulation in the intercellular bridge. These division defects are also found in cell lines derived from Lowe patients and can be corrected by the addition of low doses of F-actin depolymerization drugs. Our data demonstrate that PtdIns(4,5)P2 hydrolysis is important for normal cytokinesis abscission to locally remodel the F-actin cytoskeleton in the intercellular bridge. They also reveal an unexpected role for the phosphatase OCRL in cell division and shed new light on the pleiotropic phenotypes associated with Lowe disease.

Trafficking between membrane compartments is a characteristic of eukaryotic cells and relies on transport carriers that bud and fission from a donor membrane, before being transported and fusing with the correct acceptor compartment. Rab GTPases ensure specificity and directionality of trafficking steps by regulating the movement of transport carriers along cytoskeletal tracks, and the recruitment of tethering factors required for the docking and fusion processes. Here we show that Rab6, a Golgi-associated Rab, forms a complex with myosin II, contributes to its localization at the Golgi complex and, unexpectedly, controls the fission of Rab6 vesicles. Inhibition of either Rab6 or myosin II function impairs both the fission of Rab6 transport carriers from Golgi membranes and the trafficking of anterograde and retrograde cargo from the Golgi. These effects are consistent with myosin II being an effector of Rab6 in these processes. Our results provide evidence that the actomyosin system is required in vesicle biogenesis at the Golgi, and uncover a function for Rab GTPases in vesicle fission.

The ERK 1/2 MAP kinase pathway controls cell growth and survival and modulates integrin function. Here, we report that PEA-15, a protein variably expressed in multiple cell types, blocks ERK-dependent transcription and proliferation by binding ERKs and preventing their localization in the nucleus. PEA-15 contains a nuclear export sequence required for its capacity to anchor ERK in the cytoplasm. Genetic deletion of PEA-15 results in increased ERK nuclear localization with consequent increased cFos transcription and cell proliferation. Thus, PEA-15 can redirect the biological outcome of MAP kinase signaling by regulating the subcellular localization of ERK MAP kinase.