Strategies to Detect Endogenous Ubiquitination of a Target Mammalian Protein

Different biochemical techniques are well established to investigate target’s ubiquitination in mammals without overexpressing a tagged version of ubiquitin (Ub). The simplest and more direct approach is to immunoprecipitate (IP) your target protein from cell lysate (stimulated and/or properly treated), followed by western blot analysis utilizing specific antibodies against Ub (see Subheading 3.1). This approach requires a good antibody against the target working in IP; alternatively, one could express a tagged version of the protein, possibly at the endogenous level. Another approach consists in IP ubiquitinated proteins from total cell lysate followed by detection with the antibody against the protein of interest. This second method relies on the availability of specific and very efficient antibodies against Ub (see Subheading 3.2). A more quantitative approach is the DELFIA assay (Perkin Elmer), an ELISA-based assay, which allows comparing more samples and conditions (see Subheading 3.3). Cross-validation with more than one approach is usually recommended in order to prove that your protein is modified by ubiquitin. Here we will use the EGFR as model system but protocols can be easily modified according to the protein of interest.