Transcriptome-Wide Profiling of Protein-RNA Interactions by Cross-Linking and Immunoprecipitation Mediated by FLAG-Biotin Tandem Purification

Summary

Here we present a modified CLIP-seq protocol called ^FbioCLIP-seq with FLAG-biotin tandem purification to determine the RNA targets of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in mammalian cells.

Abstract

RNA and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) control multiple biological processes. The spatial and temporal arrangement of RNAs and RBPs underlies the delicate regulation of these processes. A strategy called CLIP-seq (cross-linking and immunoprecipitation) has been developed to capture endogenous protein-RNA interactions with UV cross-linking followed by immunoprecipitation. Despite the wide use of conventional CLIP-seq method in RBP study, the CLIP method is limited by the availability of high-quality antibodies, potential contaminants from the copurified RBPs, requirement of isotope manipulation, and potential loss of information during a tedious experimental procedure. Here we describe a modified CLIP-seq method called ^FbioCLIP-seq using the FLAG-biotin tag tandem purification. Through tandem purification and stringent wash conditions, almost all the interacting RNA-binding proteins are removed. Thus, the RNAs interacting indirectly mediated by these copurified RBPs are also reduced. Our ^FbioCLIP-seq method allows efficient detection of direct protein-bound RNAs without SDS-PAGE and membrane transfer procedures in an isotope-free and protein-specific antibody-free manner.

Introduction

RNAs and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) control diverse cellular processes including splicing, translation, ribosome biogenesis, epigenetic regulation, and cell fate transition^1,2,3,4,5,6. The delicate mechanisms of these processes depend on the unique spatial and temporal arrangement of RNAs and RBPs. Therefore, an important step towards understanding RNA regulation at the molecular level is to reveal the positional information about the binding sites of RBPs.

Protocol

1. Cell line construction

1. Clone the gene of interest into a PiggyBac vector pPiggyBac-FLAG-bio-[cDNA of interest]-(Hygromycin-resistant) plasmid that carries a FLAG-biotin epitope^13,21 to express a FLAG-biotin tag fused RBP (^FBRBP).
2. Cotransfect the ^FBRBP expressing vector with the pBase vector into a cell line expressing the BirA enzyme²².
   NOTE: In this study, the ^FBRBP gene was.......

Discussion

Here we introduce a modified CLIP-seq method called ^FbioCLIP-seq, taking advantage of the FLAG-biotin double tagging system to perform tandem purification of protein-RNA complexes. The FLAG-biotin double tagging system has been shown to be powerful in identifying protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions^13,21. Here we demonstrate the high specificity and convenience of this system in identifying the RNAs interacting with proteins. Through tandem pur.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Equipment
UV crosslinker	UVP	HL-2000 HybrilLinker
Affinity Purification Beads
ANTI-FLAG beads	Sigma-Aldrich	A2220
Streptavidin beads	Invitrogen	112.06D
Reagents
10x PBS	Gibco	70013032
3 M NaOAc	Ambion	AM9740
3 x FLAG peptide	Sigma-Aldrich	F4799
ATP	Sigma-Aldrich	A6559
Calcium chloride (CaCl2)	Sigma-Aldrich	C1016
CIP	NEB	M0290S	CIP buffer is in the same package.
DTT	Sigma-Aldrich	D0632
EDTA	Sigma-Aldrich	E9884
EGTA	Sigma-Aldrich	E3889
Gel purification kit	QIAGEN	28704
Glycogen	Ambion	AM9510
Magnesium chloride (MgCl2)	Sigma-Aldrich	449172
MNase	NEB	M0247S
NP-40	Amresco	M158-500ML
PMSF	Sigma-Aldrich	10837091001
Porteinase K	TAKARA	9033
Protease inhibitor cocktail	Sigma-Aldrich	P8340
Q5 High-Fidelity 2X Master Mix	NEB	0492S
reverse trancriptase (SupperScriptIII)	Invitrogen	18080093
RNA isolation reagent (Trizol)	Invitrogen	15596018
RNase Inhibitor	ThermoFisher	EO0381
RNaseOUT	Invitrogen	10777019
RQ1 Dnase	Promega	M6101
SDS	Sigma-Aldrich	1614363
Sodium chloride	Sigma-Aldrich	S9888
Sodium deoxycholate	Sigma-Aldrich	D6750
T4 PNK	NEB	M0201S	PNK buffer is in the same package.
T4 RNA ligaes	ThermoFisher	EL0021	T4 RNA ligase buffer and BSA are in the same package.
T4 RNA ligase2, truncated	NEB	M0242S	T4 RNA ligase buffer and 50% PEG are in the same package.
Trypsin-EDTA	ThermoFisher	25200072
Urea	Sigma-Aldrich	208884
mESC culture medium
DMEM (80%)	Gibco	11965126
2-Mercaptoethanol	Gibco	21985023
FCS (15%)	Hyclone
Glutamax (1%)	Gibco	35050061
LIF			purified recombinant protein; 10,000 fold dilution
NEAA (1%)	Gibco	11140050
Nucleoside mix (1%)	Millipore	ES-008-D
Penicillin-Streptomycin (1%)	Gibco	15140122
Kit
DNA gel extraction kit	QIAGEN	28704