The EIF4B Knockout BHK-21 Cell Line is a CRISPR/Cas9-edited knockout cell line derived from the BHK-21 Syrian hamster fibroblast line. This product provides a stable genetic model with targeted disruption of the EIF4B gene, which encodes a critical translation initiation factor. It allows researchers to examine the functional consequences of EIF4B loss in a consistent cellular background.
The parental BHK-21 cell line, derived from baby Syrian hamster kidney, is a fibroblast-like line commonly used for viral propagation, transfection, and recombinant protein expression. Its robust growth and high transfection efficiency make it a versatile host for studying host-virus interactions and translation-dependent processes.
EIF4B is an RNA helicase cofactor that activates eIF4A, enhancing its ATPase and unwinding activities to resolve secondary structures in mRNA 5?? UTRs, a crucial step for ribosome scanning. EIF4B is a key downstream effector of mTORC1 signaling: phosphorylation by S6K1 couples growth factor and nutrient signals to translational control. Active EIF4B promotes selective translation of proliferation-related mRNAs such as MYC and CCND1, and it interacts with multiple initiation factors, including eIF4A, eIF3, eIF4G, and PABP. In addition, EIF4B participates in stress granule assembly, linking translation regulation to cellular stress responses.
In the BHK-21 fibroblast context, EIF4B disruption impairs cap-dependent translation, particularly of mRNAs with highly structured 5?? leaders. This is expected to affect cell proliferation, stress granule dynamics, and viral replication, since many viruses depend on the host translation machinery. Consequently, this knockout cell line serves as a powerful tool for dissecting how host translation factors support viral protein synthesis and for evaluating the role of EIF4B in oncogenic signaling within a non-human mammalian fibroblast model.
The EIF4B Knockout BHK-21 Cell Line is suitable for applications including cap-dependent translation reporter assays, polysome profiling, co-immunoprecipitation of eIF4F complexes, cell proliferation and mTOR inhibitor sensitivity assays, drug sensitivity profiling, viral replication host factor studies, and CRISPR-based functional validation. For further details, please contact Ascent Research.
