FLAG-tag

FLAG-tag, or FLAG octapeptide, or FLAG epitope, is a polypeptide protein tag that can be added to a protein using recombinant DNA technology, having the sequence motif DYKDDDDK (where D=aspartic acid, Y=tyrosine, and K=lysine). It has been used for studying proteins in living cells and for protein purification by affinity chromatography. It has been used to separate recombinant, overexpressed protein from wild-type protein expressed by the host organism. It can also be used in the isolation of protein complexes with multiple subunits, because its mild purification procedure tends not to disrupt such complexes. It has been used to obtain proteins of sufficient purity and quality to carry out 3D structure determination by x-ray crystallography.

A FLAG-tag can be used in many different assays that require recognition by an antibody. If there is no antibody against a given protein, adding a FLAG-tag to a protein allows the protein to be studied with an antibody against the FLAG sequence. Examples are cellular localization studies by immunofluorescence or detection by SDS PAGE protein electrophoresis and Western blotting.

The peptide sequence of the FLAG-tag from the N-terminus to the C-terminus is: DYKDDDDK (1012 Da). Additionally, it may be used in tandem, commonly the 3xFLAG peptide: DYKDHDG-DYKDHDI-DYKDDDDK (with the final tag encoding an enterokinase cleavage site). It can be fused to the C-terminus or the N-terminus of a protein, or inserted within a protein. Some commercially available antibodies (e.g., M1/4E11) recognize the epitope only when it is present at the N-terminus. However, other available antibodies (e.g., M2) are position-insensitive. The tyrosine residue in the FLAG-tag can be sulfated, which can affect antibody recognition of the FLAG epitope. The FLAG-tag can be used in conjunction with other affinity tags, for example a polyhistidine tag (His-tag), HA-tag or myc-tag.

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