Isolation of proteins that interact with the signal transduction molecule Dof and identification of a functional domain conserved between Dof and vertebrate BCAP.

Dof is a large molecule essential for signal transduction by the two FGF receptors in Drosophila. It contains two ankyrin repeats and a coiled-coil region, but has no other recognisable structural motif. Dof shares these features with its closest vertebrate relatives, the B-cell signalling molecules BCAP and BANK. In addition, this family of proteins shares a region of homology upstream of the ankyrin repeats, which we call the Dof/BCAP/BANK (DBB) motif. We have identified 44 proteins that interact with Dof in a yeast two-hybrid screen. These include the Drosophila FGF-receptor Heartless and Dof itself. We show that the integrity of the DBB motif is required both for Dof and for BCAP to form dimers. Analysis of the interactions between a set of deletion constructs of Dof and the panel of interactors suggests that Dof may adopt different conformations, with a folded conformation stabilized by interactions between the DBB motif and the C-terminal part of the protein.