The DPCD Knockout Huh-7 Polyclonal Cells are a CRISPR/Cas9-edited polyclonal knockout cell population targeting DPCD (CCDC151) in human Huh-7 cells. This polyclonal format provides a genetically diverse loss-of-function model suitable for functional screening and pathway analysis without clonal selection artifacts. The pool is generated via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene disruption, ensuring efficient knockout across a heterogeneous population.
Derived from hepatocellular carcinoma, Huh-7 cells are an established hepatocyte-derived epithelial line widely used in liver cancer research and drug metabolism studies. They offer robust transfection efficiency and can be induced to undergo ciliogenesis under specialized culture conditions, making them a practical host for studying motile cilia biology despite their hepatic origin.
DPCD/CCDC151 encodes a scaffold protein critical for outer dynein arm assembly in motile cilia. It functions downstream of transcription factors FOXJ1, RFX3, and RFX2, and interacts with CCDC114, DNAH5, and DNAI1 to anchor dynein motors onto axonemal microtubules. This facilitates incorporation of DNAH5, DNAI1, and DNALI1, enabling ATP-dependent ciliary beating. Loss of DPCD disrupts dynein arm formation, leading to immotile cilia and associated phenotypes such as impaired mucociliary clearance and organ laterality defects.
In Huh-7 cells, DPCD knockout permits examination of dynein arm biogenesis and protein interactions in a metabolically active hepatic context. The cell line??s expression of key axonemal components and capacity for cilia formation upon induction provides a scalable platform for high-resolution imaging and biochemical studies. This model also facilitates compound screening for ciliary targets alongside hepatotoxicity assessment, leveraging Huh-7’s widespread use in drug metabolism assays.
Typical applications include immunofluorescence microscopy for dynein arm localization, co-immunoprecipitation and western blotting for interaction mapping, and high-speed video microscopy for ciliary beat frequency analysis after ciliogenesis induction. Air-liquid interface culture enables respiratory ciliary disease modeling and drug screening for primary ciliary dyskinesia therapies. This knockout system is also adaptable to sperm motility assays. For further information or custom applications, please contact Ascent Research.
