Immunoprecipitation with an Anti-Epitope Tag Affinity Gel to Study Protein-Protein Interactions

Summary

Protein-protein interactions are important for elucidating the function of target proteins, and co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) can easily confirm PPIs. We transiently transfected a plasmid encoding an epitope-tagged protein into HEK-293 cells and developed an immunoprecipitation method to easily confirm the binding of two target proteins.

Abstract

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play a pivotal role in biological phenomena, such as cellular organization, intracellular signal transduction, and transcriptional regulation. Therefore, understanding PPIs is an important starting point for further investigation of the function of the target protein. In this study, we propose a simple method to determine the binding of two target proteins by introducing mammalian expression vectors into HEK-293 cells using the polyethylenimine method, lysing the cells in homemade protein lysis buffer, and pulling down the target proteins on an epitope tag affinity gel. In addition, the PPI between the various epitope tag fused proteins can be confirmed by using affinity antibodies against each tag instead of the epitope tag affinity gel. This protocol could also be used to verify various PPIs, including nuclear extracts, from other cell lines. Therefore, it can be used as a basic method in a variety of PPI experiments. Proteins degrade by extended time course and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Therefore, cell lysis, immunoprecipitation, and immunoblotting should be performed as seamlessly as possible.

Introduction

Proteins play a major role in all cellular functions, including information processing, metabolism, transport, decision-making, and structural organization. Proteins mediate their functions by interacting physically with other molecules. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are important for mediating cellular functions, such as mediating signal transduction, sensing the environment, converting energy into physical movement, regulating the activity of metabolic and signaling enzymes, and maintaining cellular organization¹. Thus, PPIs can be used to elucidate unknown functions². Methods for detecting PPIs can be classified....

Protocol

Figure 1 presents an overview of the protocol.

1. Preparation of solutions and buffers

1. Protein lysis buffer: Prepare the protein lysis buffer following a previously published report⁷ (Table 1).
2. Protein lysis buffer + protease inhibitor (PI): Add protease inhibitor (see Table of Materials) to the above-prepared buffer (step 1.1). Store at -20 °C.
3. Sample b.......

Discussion

This protocol is almost like previously reported protocols^5,7,14,15. The important point of this protocol is that we never stop the experiment from the cell lysis step to the immunoprecipitation step. Protein degradation hinders PPI detection. Extended time course and repeated freeze-thaw cycles degrade proteins. Electrophoresis in SDS-PAGE should also be performed on the same day of immunoprec.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
0.5 M EDTA (pH8.0)	Nippon gene	311-90075
10% Mini-PROTEAN TGX Precast Protein Gels, 10-well, 50 µL	Biorad	4561034
10x Tris/Glycine/SDS	Biorad	1610772
ANTI-FLAG M2 Affinity Gel	Sigma	A2220
Anti-Mouse IgG, HRP-Linked Whole Ab Sheep	GE Healthcare	NA931-1ML
Anti-Rabbit IgG, HRP-Linked Whole Ab Donkey	GE Healthcare	NA934-1ML
Cell Scraper M	Sumitomo Bakelite	MS-93170
Collagen I Coat Dish 100 mm	IWAKI	4020-010
cOmplete, EDTA-free Protease Inhibitor Cocktail	Roche	4693132001
DMEM/F-12, GlutaMAX supplement	Invitrogen	10565042
D-PBS (-)	FUJIFILM Wako	045-29795
Glycerol	FUJIFILM Wako	072-00626
Glycine	FUJIFILM Wako	077-00735
HA-Tag (C29F4) Rabbit mAb #3724	Cell Signaling	C29F4
Laemmli Sample buffer	Bio-Rad Laboratories	161-0747
Micro Bio-Spin Chromatography Columns	Biorad	7326204
Mini-PROTEAN Tetra Cell for Mini Precast Gels	Biorad	1658004JA
Monoclonal ANTI-FLAG M2 antibody produced in mouse	Sigma	F3165
NaCl	FUJIFILM Wako	191-01665
pcDNA3.1-FLAG-PRDM16	This paper	N/A
pcDNA3.1-HA-EHMT1	This paper	N/A
pcDNA3.1-vector	This paper	N/A
PEI MAX - Transfection Grade Linear Polyethylenimine Hydrochloride	PSI	24765
Penicillin-streptomycin solution	FUJIFILM Wako	168-23191
Pierce BCA Protein Assay Kit	Thermo scientific	23227
Polyoxyethylene(10) Octylphenyl Ether	FUJIFILM Wako	168-11805
Polyoxyethylene(20) Sorbitan Monolaurate	FUJIFILM Wako	167-11515
Protein G Sepharose 4 Fast Flow Lab Packs	Cytiva	17061801
Protein LoBind Tubes	eppendorf	30108442
ROTATOR RT-5	TAITEC	RT-5
skim milk	Morinaga	0652842
Stripping Solution	FUJIFILM Wako	193-16375
Trans-Blot Turbo Mini PVDF Transfer Pack	Biorad	1704156B03
Trans-Blot Turbo System	Biorad	N/A
Trizma base	Sigma	T1503-1KG
USDA Tested Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)	HyClone	SH30910.03
Veriblot	Abcam	ab131366
β-Actin (13E5) Rabbit mAb #4970	Cell Signaling	4970S