Cycloheximide chase assays are an experimental technique used in molecular and cellular biology to measure steady state protein stability.
[4][7] In contrast, proteins that are expressed in mammalian cell lines tend to me more stable at steady state and may require a chase lasting 3 to 8 hours.
[5][7] Drug treatments (such as MG132) are also used to inhibit steps of degradation, followed by a cycloheximide chase to observe how the stability of a protein of interest is affected.
[8] While this method is informative and provides the benefit of observing nascent protein abundance, the radioactive material it requires is expensive with a shorter shelf-life and demands more caution to use than cycloheximide.
When used at high concentrations over a long period of time, cycloheximide will damage the DNA within the cell and impair critical cellular function.