Figure 1.

Strategy for screening RNA-binding libraries. Libraries are fused to the activation domain of HIV Tat or to full-length Tat and are delivered into stable cells containing an appropriate GFP reporter by protoplast fusion. GFP-expressing cells are isolated by FACS, and plasmids are extracted by alkaline lysis and electroporated into bacteria. Protoplasts are made from the enriched population and the cycle is repeated until a large proportion of fused cells express GFP. Individual clones are tested for activity and positives are sequenced.