GelShift,orBandShiftAssay,orElectrophoreticMobilityShiftAssay(EMSA)isatechniqueforstudyinggeneregulationanddeterminingprotein:DNAinteractions.TheassayisbasedontheobservationthatcomplexesofproteinandDNAmigratethroughanon-denaturingpolyacrylamidegelmoreslowlythanfreeDNAfragmentsordouble-strandedoligonucleotides.Thegelshiftassayiscarriedoutbyfirstincubatingaprotein(s)(suchasnuclearorcellextract)witha32Pend-labeledDNAfragmentcontainingtheputativeproteinbindingsite.Thereactionproductsarethenanalyzedonanondenaturingpolyacrylamidegel.ThespecificityoftheDNA-bindingproteinfortheputativebindingsiteisestablishedbycompetitionexperimentsusingDNAfragmentsoroligonucleotidescontainingabindingsitefortheproteinofinterestorotherunrelatedDNAsequences.
