Functional characterization and efficient detection of Nucleophosmin/NPM1 oligomers.

NPM1/nucleophosmin is a multifunctional and oligomeric phosphoprotein. A number of observations have suggested that changes in the oligomer formation of NPM1 could influence its biological functions, especially its oncogenic functions. To understand the functional meaning of oligomerization of NPM1/nucleophosmin, we have established a novel method to monitor protein oligomerization in cells. We utilized the split synthetic Renilla luciferase protein fragment-assisted complementation (SRL-PFAC) bioluminescence activity and observed the change of NPM1 oligomer levels under various cell culture conditions. Our study provides a method for systematic characterization of NPM1 oligomer formation changes and for screening inhibitors of NPM1 oligomerization.