Working on transcription factors requires studying interactions between protein and DNA. After identification of putative binding-sequences and motifs, Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) experiment is classically used to determine specific interactions of proteins and nucleic acids. This lengthy process is rather heavy-handed because of radioisotopically labeled DNA and autoradiographic visualization that are required for the experiments.

Liquid luminescent DNA precipitation assay provides rapid, reliable and quantitative results concerning protein-DNA interactions. This protein-DNA binding assay is based on solution hybridization between Digoxigenin-labeled (DIG) DNA and glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fused DNA binding protein bound to Glutathione Sepharose 4B beads (Figure 1), without electrophoresis (Toshiharu et al., 2008). Digoxigenin is a steroid found in plants. It is increasingly used as a label for nonradioactive detection of nucleic acids and proteins.


Figure 1. Representation of liquid chemiluminescent DNA pull-down assay. A Glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fused NLRP3 (GST-NLRP3) bound to Glutathione Sepharose 4B beads is incubated with a DIG-labeled double-stranded DNA fragment containing putative NLRP3 Binding Site (NBS) in protein-DNA binding buffer. After extensive washing, protein-DNA binding on beads is detected using anti-DIG antibody conjugated to alkaline phosphatase, which is measured by a chemiluminescent reaction using a luminometer Disodium 3-(4-methoxyspiro {1,2-dioxetane-3,2′-(5′-chloro) tricyclo [3.3.1.1^{3, 7}] decan}-4-yl) phenyl phosphate(CSPD).

Here, we described how we used this technique to demonstrate the interaction between NLRP3 protein and its DNA binding site (Bruchard et al., 2015).

Transcription factor (转录因子)

DNA binding (“DNA结合”)

Chemiluminescent (化学发光)