Co-immunoprecipitation of the Mouse Mx1 Protein with the Influenza A Virus Nucleoprotein

J Vis Exp. 2015 Apr 21:(98):52871. doi: 10.3791/52871.

Abstract

Studying the interaction between proteins is key in understanding their function(s). A very powerful method that is frequently used to study interactions of proteins with other macromolecules in a complex sample is called co-immunoprecipitation. The described co-immunoprecipitation protocol allows to demonstrate and further investigate the interaction between the antiviral myxovirus resistance protein 1 (Mx1) and one of its viral targets, the influenza A virus nucleoprotein (NP). The protocol starts with transfected mammalian cells, but it is also possible to use influenza A virus infected cells as starting material. After cell lysis, the viral NP protein is pulled-down with a specific antibody and the resulting immune-complexes are precipitated with protein G beads. The successful pull-down of NP and the co-immunoprecipitation of the antiviral Mx1 protein are subsequently revealed by western blotting. A prerequisite for successful co-immunoprecipitation of Mx1 with NP is the presence of N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) in the cell lysis buffer. NEM alkylates free thiol groups. Presumably this reaction stabilizes the weak and/or transient NP-Mx1 interaction by preserving a specific conformation of Mx1, its viral target or an unknown third component. An important limitation of co-immunoprecipitation experiments is the inadvertent pull-down of contaminating proteins, caused by nonspecific binding of proteins to the protein G beads or antibodies. Therefore, it is very important to include control settings to exclude false positive results. The described co-immunoprecipitation protocol can be used to study the interaction of Mx proteins from different vertebrate species with viral proteins, any pair of proteins, or of a protein with other macromolecules. The beneficial role of NEM to stabilize weak and/or transient interactions needs to be tested for each interaction pair individually.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ethylmaleimide / chemistry
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Immunoprecipitation / methods
  • Influenza A virus / chemistry
  • Mice
  • Myxovirus Resistance Proteins / chemistry*
  • Nucleocapsid Proteins
  • RNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry*
  • Viral Core Proteins / chemistry*

Substances

  • Mx1 protein, mouse
  • Myxovirus Resistance Proteins
  • NP protein, Influenza A virus
  • Nucleocapsid Proteins
  • RNA-Binding Proteins
  • Viral Core Proteins
  • Ethylmaleimide