RNA integrity as a quality indicator during the first steps of RNP purifications : A comparison of yeast lysis methods

Background  

The completion of several genome-sequencing projects has increased our need to assign functions to newly identified genes. The presence of a specific protein domain has been used as the determinant for suggesting a function for these new genes. In the case of proteins that are predicted to interact with mRNA, most RNAs bound by these proteins are still unknown. In yeast, several protocols for the identification of protein-protein interactions in high-throughput analyses have been developed during the last years leading to an increased understanding of cellular proteomics. If any of these protocols or similar approaches shall be used for the identification of mRNA-protein complexes, the integrity of mRNA is a critical factor.