Agarose Gel Separation/Isolation of RNA‐Protein Complexes

Abstract In many methods currently used to analyze RNA‐protein complexes, high salt or other stringent treatments are required for reducing nonspecific interactions and resolving the complex of interest. RNA‐protein complexes often dissociate on native polyacrylamide gels and can only be detected on density gradients or by gel filtration. Agarose gel electrophoresis provides an alternative method that is simple, rapid, and can have high resolution of RNA‐protein complexes. Moreover, the use of low‐melting point agarose for the fractionation readily allows for the isolation of the RNA species in each complex detected on the native gel.