Objective: To screen and identify proteins that interact with p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases by means of T7 phage-display screening system.
Method: His-tagged fusion protein of p38 MAP kinase was used to coat a 96-well ELISA plate and Ni-NTA resin, which served as the media for screening human lung and liver T7 phage cDNA libraries.
Results: After 4 rounds of biopanning, 86 independent plaques were selected and processed by EDTA. The inserted gene fragments from these plaques were amplified by PCR, the products purified by a gel recovery method. The sequences of the insertions were identified and analyzed with BLAST program in GenBank. Forty-six clones were found to encode proteins.
Conclusion: T7 phage-display screening system is convenient, rapid and effective for screening the P38 MAP kinase-binding proteins.