Analytical Approaches for Monitoring DNA–Protein Interactions

DNA–protein interactions play a critical role in cellular regulation. We herein review existing analytical methods for investigating these interactions, highlighting methods such as chromatin immunoprecipitation and yeast-one-hybrid that are used to identify undiscovered DNA–protein interactions. We summarize the most com- mon approaches for characterizing known interactions based on DNA–protein structure, thermodynamic and kinetic measurements, and dynamic binding assays. We discuss techniques in optical imaging as well as repre- sentative methods, such as eletrophoretic mobility shift assay and surface plasmon resonance. The advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are used to assess a proposed optical platform based on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) fluorescence.