A novel assay for protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complexes in vivo reveals differential effects of covalent modifications on different Saccharomyces cerevisiae PP2A heterotrimers.

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) catalytic subunit can be covalently modified at its carboxy terminus by phosphorylation or carboxymethylation. Determining the effects of these covalent modifications on the relative amounts and functions of different PP2A heterotrimers is essential to understanding how these modifications regulate PP2A-controlled cellular processes. In this study we have validated and used a novel in vivo assay for assessing PP2A heterotrimer formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: the measurement of heterotrimer-dependent localization of green fluorescent protein-PP2A subunits.