Identification of RNA-binding Proteins by RNA Ligand-based cDNA Expression Library Screening

Abstract

We previously reported when a portion of the Requiem (REQ/DPF2) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) 3’ untranslated region (3’UTR), referred to as G8, was overexpressed in K562 cells, β-globin expression was induced, suggesting that the 3’UTR of REQ mRNA plays a physiological role (Kim et al., 2014). To identify trans-acting factors that bind to the REQ 3’UTR, we describe the RNA ligand based cDNA expression library screening method. This protocol could be adapted to detect specific RNA-protein interactions. Following this method, we identified six positive clones in the initial round of screening and four pure clones after sib-screening. This protocol was originally published in Kim et al. (2014).