Chromatin immunoprecipitation, or ChIP, refers to a procedure used to determine whether a given protein binds to or is localized to a specific DNA sequence in vivo. The diagram below illustrates the basic steps of this procedure.

DNA-binding proteins are crosslinked to DNA with formaldehyde in vivo.

Isolate the chromatin. Shear DNA along with bound proteins into small fragments.

Bind antibodies specific to the DNA-binding protein to isolate the complex by precipitation. Reverse the cross-linking to release the DNA and digest the proteins.

Use PCR to amplify specific DNA sequences to see if they were precipitated with the antibody.

A detailed protocol of the chromatin immunoprecipitation procedure is provided on our Methods page.