Tandem Affinity Purification of Protein Complexes from Eukaryotic Cells.

The purification of active protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes is crucial for the characterization of enzymatic activities and de novo identification of novel subunits and post-translational modifications. Bacterial systems allow for the expression and purification of a wide variety of single polypeptides and protein complexes. However, this system does not enable the purification of protein subunits that contain post-translational modifications (e.g., phosphorylation and acetylation), and the identification of novel regulatory subunits that are only present/expressed in the eukaryotic system. Here, we provide a detailed description of a novel, robust, and efficient tandem affinity purification (TAP) method using STREP- and FLAG-tagged proteins that facilitates the purification of protein complexes with transiently or stably expressed epitope-tagged proteins from eukaryotic cells. This protocol can be applied to characterize protein complex functionality, to discover post-translational modifications on complex subunits, and to identify novel regulatory complex components by mass spectrometry. Notably, this TAP method can be applied to study protein complexes formed by eukaryotic or pathogenic (viral and bacterial) components, thus yielding a wide array of downstream experimental opportunities. We propose that researchers working with protein complexes could utilize this approach in many different ways.

Isolation and functional characterization of P-TEFb-associated factors that control general and HIV-1 transcriptional elongation.

Originally identified as a factor crucial for RNA polymerase (Pol) II transcriptional elongation of cellular genes, the P-TEFb kinase was subsequently shown to also serve as a specific host co-factor required for HIV-1 transcription. Recruited by either the bromodomain protein Brd4 to cellular promoters for general transcription or the HIV-1 Tat protein to the viral LTR for activated HIV-1 transcription, P-TEFb stimulates the processivity of Pol II through phosphorylating the C-terminal domain of Pol II and a pair of negative elongation factors, leading to the synthesis of full-length transcripts. However, abundant evidence indicates that P-TEFb does not act alone in the cell and that all of its known biological functions are likely mediated through the interactions with various regulators. Although a number of P-TEFb-associated factors have already been identified, there are likely more yet to be discovered. Given that P-TEFb plays an essential role in HIV-1 transcription, a major challenge facing the field is to identify all the P-TEFb-associated factors and determine how they may modulate Tat-transactivation and HIV-1 replication. Described here is a set of experimental procedures that have not only enabled us to isolate and identify several P-TEFb-associated factors, but also provided the means to characterize their biochemical functions in HIV-1 transcriptional control. In light of the recent demonstrations that transcriptional elongation plays a much more important role in controlling metazoan gene expression than previously thought, the techniques presented here will also be useful for analyzing Pol II elongation of cellular genes.