Arabidopsis HY5 protein functions as a DNA-binding tag for purification and functional immobilization of proteins on agarose/DNA microplate.

Protein microarray is considered to be one of the key analytical tools for high-throughput protein function analysis. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis HY5 functions as a novel DNA-binding tag (DBtag) for proteins. We also demonstrate that the DBtagged proteins could be immobilized and purified on a newly designed agarose/DNA microplate. Furthermore, we show three applications using the microarray: (1) detection of autophosphorylation activity of DBtagged human protein kinases and inhibition of their activity by staurosporine, (2) specific cleavage of DBtagged proteins by a virus protease and caspase 3, and (3) detection of a protein–protein interaction between the DBtagged UBE2N and UBE2v1. Thus, this method may facilitate rapid functional analysis of a wide range of proteins.