Fluorescence-based Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay in the Analysis of DNA-binding Proteins

Changes in gene expression mediated by DNA-binding protein factors are a crucial part of many signal transduction pathways. Generally, these regulatory proteins are low abundant and thus their purification and characterisation is labour- and time-intensive. Here we describe a workflow for purification, characterisation and identification of DNA-binding proteins. We show the use of a fluorescence-based electrophoretic mobility shift assay (fEMSA) and describe its advantages for a rapid and convenient screening for regulatory cis-elements. This involves a crude enrichment of nucleic acid binding proteins by heparin-Sepharose chromatography and the characterisation of fractions using overlapping fluorescence-labelled DNA probes spanning the promoter region of interest. The determined protein-binding sites can then be used for sequence-specific DNA-affinity chromatography to purify specifically interacting proteins. Finally, the DNA-binding complexes can be characterised and identified using two-dimensional EMSA, UV-cross-linking and mass spectrometry.