Identifying phosphoCTD-associating proteins

Methods Mol Biol. 2004:257:17-28. doi: 10.1385/1-59259-750-5:017.

Abstract

The C-terminal repeat domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II is hyperphosphorylated during transcription elongation. The phosphoCTD is known to bind to a subset of RNA processing factors and to several other nuclear proteins, thereby positioning them to efficiently carry out their elongation-linked functions. The authors propose that additional phosphoCTD-associating proteins (PCAPs) exist and describe a systematic biochemical approach for identifying such proteins. A binding probe is generated by using yeast CTD kinase I to exhaustively phosphorylate a CTD fusion protein. This phosphoCTD is used to probe fractionated yeast or mammalian extracts in a Far Western protein interaction assay. Putative PCAPs are further purified and identified by mass spectrometry.

MeSH terms

  • Blotting, Western / methods*
  • Cell Extracts / isolation & purification*
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Phosphoproteins / analysis
  • Phosphoproteins / genetics
  • Phosphoproteins / metabolism*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism*
  • RNA Polymerase II / genetics
  • RNA Polymerase II / metabolism*
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / isolation & purification*
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism

Substances

  • Cell Extracts
  • Phosphoproteins
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Protein Kinases
  • carboxy-terminal domain kinase
  • RNA Polymerase II