DNase footprinting assay

A DNase footprinting assay is a DNA footprinting technique from molecular biology/biochemistry that detects DNA-protein interaction using the fact that a protein bound to DNA will often protect that DNA from enzymatic cleavage. This makes it possible to locate a protein binding site on a particular DNA molecule. The method uses an enzyme, deoxyribonuclease (DNase, for short), to cut the radioactively end-labeled DNA, followed by gel electrophoresis to detect the resulting cleavage pattern.