A field-proven yeast two-hybrid protocol used to identify coronavirus-host protein-protein interactions

Over the last 2 decades, yeast two-hybrid became an invaluable technique to decipher protein-protein interaction networks. In the field of virology, it has proven instrumental to identify virus-host interactions that are involved in viral embezzlement of cellular functions and inhibition of immune mechanisms. Here, we present a yeast two-hybrid protocol that has been used in our laboratory since 2006 to search for cellular partners of more than 300 viral proteins. Our aim was to develop a robust and straightforward pipeline, which minimizes false-positive interactions with a decent coverage of target cDNA libraries, and only requires a minimum of equipment. We also discuss reasons that motivated our technical choices and compromises that had to be made. This protocol has been used to screen most non-structural proteins of murine hepatitis virus (MHV), a member of betacoronavirus genus, against a mouse brain cDNA library. Typical results were obtained and are presented in this report.