What is an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA)?
EMSA (also called gel shifts, band shifts, gel retardation assays, or mobility assays) have been used extensively for studying protein-DNA interactions. Because protein-DNA complexes migrate more slowly through a native polyacrylamide or agarose gel than DNA alone, individual protein-DNA complexes can be visualized as discrete bands within the gel using chemiluminescence or radioisotopic detection.
