Overview of affinity tags for protein purification.

Addition of an affinity tag is a useful method for differentiating recombinant proteins expressed in bacterial and eukaryotic expression systems from the background of total cellular proteins, and for detecting protein-protein interactions. This overview describes the historical basis for the development of affinity tags, affinity tags that are commonly used today, how to choose an appropriate affinity tag for a particular purpose, and several recently developed affinity tag technologies that may prove useful in the near future.