The ATRX Knockout HEK293T Polyclonal Cells product is a polyclonal population of HEK293T cells with CRISPR/Cas9-mediated disruption of the ATRX gene, enabling loss-of-function studies in a telomerase-positive, immortalized human embryonic kidney background. This heterogeneous pool avoids clonal selection bias and provides a robust system for investigating population-level effects of ATRX deficiency, including chromatin remodeling and telomere maintenance defects.
HEK293T cells are an adenovirus 5-transformed human embryonic kidney epithelial line that stably expresses SV40 large T antigen, endowing them with exceptional transfectability and recombinant protein expression capacity. Widely employed for viral production and gene function analyses, their rapid growth and tractable genetics make them an ideal host for generating CRISPR-engineered knockout models to study fundamental processes such as genome stability and chromatin dynamics.
ATRX is a SWI/SNF chromatin remodeler that complexes with DAXX to deposit histone H3.3 at telomeres, pericentric heterochromatin, and repetitive loci, thereby safeguarding genomic stability by silencing aberrant recombination. ATRX deficiency abrogates H3.3 incorporation, triggering alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), DNA damage response activation, and altered TERRA transcription. It interacts with HP1??, the MRN complex (MRE11-RAD50-NBS1), MeCP2, and EZH2, integrating signals from upstream kinases ATM/ATR to regulate chromatin compaction and telomere structure.
In the telomerase-positive HEK293T background, ATRX removal creates a tractable model to probe the initiation of ALT-associated phenotypes, including changes in H3.3 distribution, telomeric C-circle accumulation, and sister chromatid exchange. The parental line??s high transfectability facilitates complementation and mutant rescue experiments, enabling dissection of ATRX functional domains. This isogenic system circumvents confounding passenger mutations found in ALT+ tumor lines, making it suitable for studying ATRX??s role in chromatin integrity and telomere capping.
These polyclonal knockout cells support diverse assays such as ChIP-qPCR for H3.3 and ATRX, telomere FISH, C-circle quantification, ??H2AX immunofluorescence, colony formation, and cell cycle analysis. Applications span chromatin biology, telomere research, ALT mechanism studies, and drug screening for gliomas, sarcomas, and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. For additional information or to inquire about custom gene editing services, please contact Ascent Research.
