GST- or His-tagged recombinant proteins were produced in E. coli using the GST Gene Fusion System (GE Healthcare) and the Probond Purification System (Invitrogen) respectively according to the manufacturers’ instructions and extracts were prepared by urea/DTT denaturation and renaturation as described previously [12 (link)]. Critical to reducing background ubiquitination, the recombinant His-tagged p21 was clarified by centrifugation at 100 000 g for 15 min at 4°C and the protein was stored in aliquots of 20 μl at −80°C, which were thawed no more than twice. Proteins prepared in this manner eluted as a well-defined single peak after gel filtration, albeit they were not purified to homogeneity.