The ARG1 Knockout CAL-27 Polyclonal Cells are a CRISPR/Cas9-edited polyclonal cell population targeting the ARG1 locus in the CAL-27 human tongue squamous cell carcinoma line. This heterogeneous knockout pool allows loss-of-function studies of arginase-1 while avoiding clonal selection artifacts. The polyclonal nature ensures a diverse genetic background, enabling robust functional assays without the bias of single-cell-derived clones.
The parental CAL-27 line is an epithelial carcinoma derived from a male patient??s tongue squamous cell carcinoma, extensively used as a model for head and neck cancer. These cells maintain malignant traits such as sustained proliferation and invasiveness, and they recapitulate key metabolic and signaling features of oral cavity tumors. CAL-27 is thus an appropriate host for examining how arginine metabolism influences tumor progression and immune interactions in mucosal squamous cell carcinomas.
ARG1 encodes arginase-1, a hydrolase that converts L-arginine to L-ornithine and urea, reducing extracellular arginine and driving immune suppression. In the tumor microenvironment, arginine depletion downregulates CD3?? in T cells and inhibits mTORC1 signaling, impairing T-cell proliferation. ARG1 is induced by IL-4 and IL-13 through STAT6, and also regulated by C/EBP??, TGF-??, and HIF-1??. Ornithine downstream feeds polyamine synthesis, promoting tumor cell growth, while arginine competition with nitric oxide synthases modulates immune effector functions. Thus, ARG1 integrates immune evasion with metabolic reprogramming.
In CAL-27 oral cancer cells, ARG1-driven arginine catabolism is a key immunosuppressive mechanism. Disrupting ARG1 in this background allows dissection of how tumor-intrinsic arginine depletion shapes the microenvironment and whether restoration of arginine can reinvigorate T-cell responses. This polyclonal model is particularly suited for evaluating ARG1 as a therapeutic target in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, where immune checkpoint blockade often meets resistance.
This product enables arginase activity assays, Western blot, RT-qPCR, and immunofluorescence for knockout validation. Co-culture with T cells can quantify proliferation and CD3?? expression, while metabolite profiling tracks arginine and ornithine levels. Migration and drug sensitivity assays support pharmacological studies of arginase inhibitors or immunotherapy combinations. For further information, please contact Ascent Research.
