Overview of Affinity Tags for Protein Purification

Abstract

Addition of an affinity tag is a useful method for differentiating recombinant proteins expressed in bacterial and eukaryotic expression systems from the background of total cellular proteins, as well as for detecting protein-protein interactions. This overview describes the historical basis for the development of affinity tags, affinity tags that are commonly used today, how to choose an appropriate affinity tag for a particular purpose, and several recently developed affinity tag technologies that may prove useful in the near future. Curr. Protoc. Protein Sci. 73:9.9.1-9.9.23. © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.