Non-covalent interaction between poly(ADP-ribose) and cellular proteins: an application of a poly(ADP-ribose)-western blotting method to detect poly(ADP-ribose) binding on protein-blotted filter.

We describe a sensitive method for the detection of interactions between poly(ADP-ribose) and proteins. Proteins were blotted onto nitrocellulose filters and incubated with 32P-labeled poly(ADP-ribose). Purified core histones and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase were found to bind poly(ADP-ribose) polymer. Blots of HeLa cell protein extracts revealed a 48 kDa protein and several others of smaller than 35 kDa likewise bound the polymers even at high salt concentrations. Those proteins, along with a 69 kDa protein, also showed resistance to competitor DNA. Polymer binding of aforesaid HeLa extract proteins was restricted to polymers above 20 residues in length. Thus poly(ADP-ribose)-protein affinities were polymer-length dependent.