ChIP-on-chip

ChIP-on-chip (also known as ChIP-chip) is a technology that combines <a href="/facts/Chromatin_immunoprecipitation/Wx5o8hQq">chromatin immunoprecipitation</a> ('ChIP') with <a href="/facts/DNA_microarray/hofkMvou">DNA microarray</a> ("chip"). Like regular <a href="/facts/Ch-IP/PYAYVuz9">ChIP</a>, ChIP-on-chip is used to investigate interactions between <a href="/facts/Protein/Jxmagu3E">proteins</a> and <a href="/facts/DNA/nB89Iauz">DNA</a> <a href="/facts/In_vivo/kWcWyl6f">in vivo</a>. Specifically, it allows the identification of the <a href="/facts/Cistrome/wSrM6l6h">cistrome</a>, the sum of <a href="/facts/Binding_site/gd9r9Rw7">binding sites</a>, for DNA-binding proteins on a genome-wide basis. Whole-genome analysis can be performed to determine the locations of binding sites for almost any protein of interest. As the name of the technique suggests, such proteins are generally those operating in the context of <a href="/facts/Chromatin/ha0TJheJ">chromatin</a>. The most prominent representatives of this class are <a href="/facts/Transcription_factor/wro0DPHe">transcription factors</a>, <a href="/facts/DNA_replication/wrU6RuR3">replication</a>-related proteins, like <a href="/facts/Origin_recognition_complex/kf2zd7FI">origin recognition complex</a> protein (ORC), <a href="/facts/Histone/krb5VJfp">histones</a>, their variants, and histone modifications.
The goal of ChIP-on-chip is to locate protein binding sites that may help identify functional elements in the <a href="/facts/Genome/31Sm08JT">genome</a>. For example, in the case of a transcription factor as a protein of interest, one can determine its transcription factor binding sites throughout the genome. Other proteins allow the identification of <a href="/facts/Promoter_(biology)/YDYBzLfg">promoter regions</a>, <a href="/facts/Enhancer_(genetics)/E5NU74sw">enhancers</a>, <a href="/facts/Repressors/qGBBQwqS">repressors</a> and <a href="/facts/Silencer_(DNA)/ygy7GUNy">silencing elements</a>, <a href="/facts/Chromatin_insulation/tNovBWhd">insulators</a>, boundary elements, and sequences that control DNA replication. If histones are subject of interest, it is believed that the distribution of modifications and their localizations may offer new insights into the mechanisms of <a href="/facts/Gene_regulation/9N4G341I">regulation</a>.
One of the long-term goals ChIP-on-chip was designed for is to establish a catalogue of (selected) organisms that lists all <a href="/facts/Protein-DNA_interaction/HEMm9eDX">protein-DNA interactions</a> under various physiological conditions. This knowledge would ultimately help in the understanding of the machinery behind gene regulation, <a href="/facts/Cell_proliferation/Jp3hWo2t">cell proliferation</a>, and disease progression. Hence, ChIP-on-chip offers both potential to complement our knowledge about the orchestration of the genome on the nucleotide level and information on higher levels of information and regulation as it is propagated by research on <a href="/facts/Epigenetics/UfAAERcn">epigenetics</a>.

ChIP-on-chip open-in-new

ChIP-on-chip