MCLIP Detection of Novel Protein-Protein Interactions at the Nuclear Envelope

Abstract

The organization and function of the nuclear envelope (NE) involves hundreds of nuclear membrane proteins and myriad protein-protein interactions, most of which are still uncharacterized. Many NE proteins interact stably or dynamically with the nuclear lamina or chromosomes. This can make them difficult to extract under nondenaturing conditions, and greatly limits our ability to explore and identify functional protein interactions at the NE. This knowledge is needed to understand nuclear envelope structure and the mechanisms of human laminopathy diseases. This chapter provides detailed protocols for MCLIP (membrane cross-linking immunoprecipitation) identification of novel protein-protein interactions in mammalian cells.

Keywords: MCLIP; Nuclear envelope; Nuclear lamina; Nuclear membrane; Nucleus; Protein–protein interactions; Proteomics.