The ELANE Knockout Ca Ski Polyclonal Cells are a CRISPR/Cas9-edited polyclonal knockout cell population derived from the Ca Ski human cervical carcinoma cell line. This product consists of a heterogeneous pool of cells harboring targeted disruptions in the ELANE gene, resulting in loss of neutrophil elastase function. The polyclonal format circumvents clonal selection biases, thereby preserving population-level diversity and providing a robust loss-of-function model for investigating ELANE biology in epithelial cancer.
The parental Ca Ski cell line is an HPV-16 positive human cervical carcinoma model with an epithelial morphology. These cells express the viral oncoproteins E6 and E7, which inactivate p53 and Rb, respectively, and are widely used for studying cervical cancer mechanisms. Their adherent growth and well-characterized signaling networks make them suitable for reproducible functional assays, including invasion and cytokine profiling.
ELANE encodes neutrophil elastase, a chymotrypsin-like serine protease that degrades extracellular matrix components such as elastin, collagen, and fibronectin. Beyond matrix remodeling, ELANE processes inflammatory mediators and promotes neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. The gene is transcriptionally activated by myeloid factors CEBPA, SPI1, and RUNX1, and its expression is induced by cytokines G-CSF, TNF-??, and IL-8. Downstream, ELANE modulates levels of IL-8 and CD14 and cleaves histones, while its activity is counteracted by the inhibitor SERPINA1 (??1-antitrypsin). ELANE functionally interacts with MPO and PADI4 during NETosis. In the tumor microenvironment, neutrophil-derived elastase can alter stromal architecture and immune cell recruitment.
In Ca Ski cervical carcinoma cells, ELANE knockout enables dissection of the protease??s specific contributions to tumor invasion and inflammatory signaling. By eliminating elastase activity, researchers can assess changes in extracellular matrix degradation, cytokine secretion, and responses to inflammatory stimuli. The polyclonal pool offers a practical advantage for bulk assays and helps mitigate the effects of clonal adaptation, making it suitable for initial functional screens and inhibitor testing.
This knockout model supports diverse research applications, including investigation of tumor-associated neutrophil elastase in cervical cancer progression, evaluation of extracellular matrix remodeling in tumor invasion, and drug screening for elastase inhibitors. It is also applicable for studying inflammatory signaling in HPV-positive carcinoma. Typical characterization and functional assays include Sanger sequencing, Western blotting for ELANE, neutrophil elastase activity assays, Matrigel invasion assays, gelatin zymography, cytokine arrays, and RNA-seq. For further technical information, please contact Ascent Research.
