Identification of Chromatin Binding Sites for Long Noncoding RNAs by Chromatin Oligo-Affinity Precipitation (ChOP)

Revealing the interactions of long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) with specific genomic regions is of basic importance to explore the mechanisms by which they regulate gene expression. Chromatin oligo-affinity precipitation (ChOP) technique was the first method developed to analyze the association of LncRNAs with genomic regions in the chromatin context. The first step of the procedure is cell cross-linking, aimed at stabilizing the RNA-protein-DNA complexes. Next, after chromatin fragmentation, the RNA complexes are pulled down through hybridization with antisense oligonucleotides tagged with biotin and purification with anti-biotin antibody. After extensive wash, the RNA-interacting chromatin is eluted by RNase treatment. Subsequent protein elimination and DNA purification allow to retrieve DNA fragments for following analyses such as qPCR or sequencing.In the present chapter, we describe the ChOP protocol, as used in our laboratory for investigating the interaction of the LncRNA Kcnq1ot1 with chromatin at specific regulatory regions of the Cdkn1c locus.