- footprinting
-
A technique used to identify the binding site of, for example, a protein on a nucleic acid sequence. The basic principle is to carry out a very limited hydrolysis of the DNA with or without the protein complexed and then to compare the digestion products. If a cleavage site is masked by the bound protein then the pattern of fragments when protein is present will be different and it is possible to work out, by a series of such procedures, exactly where the protein binds.
Dictionary of molecular biology. 2004.