The Ank3 Knockout MC-38 Cell Line is a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout cell line generated from the MC-38 murine colorectal carcinoma line to create a loss-of-function model for ankyrin-G. This product provides a stable genetic background for investigating Ank3 function in cell adhesion, cytoskeletal organization, and signaling without requiring transient knockdown approaches. The cell line format ensures consistent gene disruption across experiments and is compatible with standard culture, transfection, and in vivo transplantation protocols for colorectal cancer research.
MC-38 cells were originally derived from a C57BL/6 colon adenocarcinoma and serve as a widely used syngeneic tumor model. Their immunocompetent compatibility with C57BL/6 hosts permits studies of tumor?Cimmune dynamics and metastasis, while their aggressive growth characteristics make them suitable for evaluating adhesion-dependent processes in cancer progression. The MC-38 background thus offers a clinically relevant platform for assessing the impact of Ank3 loss on colorectal tumor cell behavior.
Ank3 encodes ankyrin-G, a cytoskeletal adaptor protein that integrates adherens junction components with the spectrin?Cactin cytoskeleton. Ankyrin-G directly interacts with E-cadherin, ??-catenin, p120-catenin, spectrin, and actin, thereby stabilizing cell?Ccell adhesion complexes and organizing cortical membrane architecture. It also associates with adhesion molecules L1CAM and NCAM, influencing migration and signaling. Ank3 expression is regulated by Wnt/??-catenin/TCF transcriptional activity and the PI3K/AKT pathway, positioning it downstream of adhesion and growth factor cues. Knockout of Ank3 disrupts these linkages, impairing adhesion stabilization, membrane retention of ??-catenin, and actin organization, and potentially altering downstream signaling that controls motility and tumorigenicity.
In colorectal carcinoma, ankyrin-G-mediated adhesion is critical for maintaining epithelial integrity, and its loss may promote metastatic dissemination. The Ank3 Knockout MC-38 Cell Line enables dissection of these mechanisms in a syngeneic setting, allowing evaluation of both cell-intrinsic effects and tumor?Cmicroenvironment interactions. This model is pertinent to understanding colorectal cancer progression and exploring connections to neuropsychiatric disorders where Ank3 variants are implicated, providing a cancer-focused context for studying cytoskeletal adaptor dysfunction.
This knockout cell line supports diverse applications including adhesion assays, transwell migration/invasion experiments, immunofluorescence imaging of junctional proteins, and co-immunoprecipitation analysis of ankyrin-G partners such as E-cadherin and ??-catenin. It is suitable for transcriptomic profiling via RNA-seq, flow cytometric assessment of surface adhesion molecules, and high-throughput screens for compounds that modulate adhesion or compensate for Ank3 loss. In vivo, MC-38-derived tumors allow syngeneic evaluation of metastasis and therapeutic responses. For additional information, please contact Ascent Research.
