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Updated: Jul 22, 2026

Screening for Functional Non-coding Genetic Variants Using Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and DNA-affinity Precipitation Assay (DAPA)
Published on: August 21, 2016
Fast gel electrophoresis to analyze DNA-protein interactions
P Ramanujam1, S Fogerty, W Heiser
1Pharmacia P-L Biochemicals, Inc., Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Abstract:
A rapid method for electrophoresis of DNA-protein complexes is described. Popular "gel-shift" assays are performed using Pharmacia PhastSystem with its convenience of pre-cast gels and buffer strips and microprocessor-controlled high-resolution separation. Using this system, the products of a DNA binding reaction (DNA-protein complexes) can be separated from "free" DNA in less than one hour. DNA fragments as well as oligonucleotides have been used as targets with partially purified extracts containing sequence-specific DNA binding proteins. We present here a comparison of results of gel-shift assays obtained by conventional techniques and by our rapid "PhastShift" method which reduces the time, effort and technical expertise necessary to obtain reproducible results.
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