Product Uses Include
- Analysis of in vivo Cdc42 activation.
Introduction
The Rho switch operates by alternating between an active, GTP-bound state and an inactive, GDP-bound state. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate activation / inactivation of the GTPases is of obvious biological significance and is a subject of intense investigation. The fact that many Rho family effector proteins will specifically recognize the GTP bound form of the protein has been exploited experimentally to develop a powerful affinity purification assay that monitors Rac and Cdc42 protein activation. The assay uses the Cdc42/Rac Interactive Binding (CRIB) region (also called the p21 Binding Domain, PBD) of the Cdc42 / Rac effector protein, p21 activated kinase 1 (PAK). The CRIB/PBD protein motif has been shown to bind specifically to the GTP-bound form of Rac and/or Cdc42 proteins. The fact that the PBD region of PAK has a high affinity for both GTP-Rac and GTP-Cdc42 and that PAK binding results in a significantly reduced intrinsic and catalytic rate of hydrolysis of both Rac and Cdc42 make it an ideal tool for affinity purification of GTP-Rac and GTP-Cdc42 from cell lysates. The PAK-PBD protein supplied in this kit corresponds to residues 67-150. This includes the highly conserved CRIB region (aa 74-88) plus sequences required for the high affinity interaction with GTP-Rac and GTP-Cdc42. The PAK-PBD is in the form of a GST fusion protein, which allows one to "pull-down" the PAK-PBD/GTP-Cdc42 (or GTP-Rac) complex with glutathione affinity beads. The assay therefore provides a simple means of quantitating Rac/Cdc42 activation in cells. The amount of activated Cdc42 is determined by a Western blot using a Cdc42 specific antibody.
Kit contents
The kit contains sufficient materials for 50 assays, depending on assay setup, and includes reagents for positive and negative controls. The following components are included:
- GST-tagged PAK-PBD protein on colored agarose beads (Cat. # PAK02)
- Cdc42 monoclonal antibody (Cat. # ACD03)
- His-tagged Cdc42 protein (Cat. # CD01)
- GTPγS: (non-hydrolyzable GTP analog) (Cat. # BS01)
- GDP
- Cell lysis Buffer
- Wash Buffer
- Loading Buffer
- STOP Buffer
- Protease inhibitor cocktail (Cat. # PIC02)
- Manual with detailed protocols and extensive troubleshooting guide
Equipment needed
- SDS-PAGE minigel system and western blotting transfer apparatus