Physical and functional interaction of noc2/rab3 in exocytosis.

Rab, monomeric small Ras-like GTPase, regulates intracellular membrane trafficking in eukaryotic cells. Rab3 is involved in the exocytotic process in a variety of secretory cells including neuronal, neuroendocrine, endocrine, and exocrine cells. Noc2, originally identified as a molecule homologous to Rabphilin-3, is a putative effector of Rab3. Noc2 interacts with the active (GTP-bound) form of Rab3 and regulates hormone secretion in neuroendocrine and endocrine cells and enzyme release in exocrine cells. This chapter describes two kinds of interaction assay by which the association of Noc2 with Rab3 is analyzed: a yeast two-hybrid assay to detect the interaction of Noc2 with the active form of Rab3 in intact cells and a pull-down assay using GST-fused Noc2 protein to ascertain the physical interaction of Noc2 and Rab3 in vitro. Thus, the Noc2 knockout mouse is a useful model for studying the functional consequences of disruption of the interaction.