KANK2 Knockout Jurkat Polyclonal Cells are a CRISPR/Cas9-edited polyclonal population of Jurkat T lymphocytes with targeted disruption of the KANK2 gene. This knockout model offers a heterogeneous pool of loss-of-function cells, well-suited for population-based functional studies, including signaling and migration analyses.
The Jurkat cell line is a human T cell leukemia-derived model extensively used to study T cell receptor signaling, cytokine production, and apoptosis. As a T lymphocyte model, Jurkat cells recapitulate key aspects of immune cell adhesion, migration, and cytoskeletal dynamics, making them ideal for investigating the molecular regulation of T cell behavior.
KANK2 encodes a scaffold protein that orchestrates cross-talk between integrin adhesion complexes and the actin cytoskeleton. It directly binds to Talin, Actin, Liprin-beta1, IQGAP1, 14-3-3 proteins, and KANK1, thereby linking integrin receptors such as ITGB1 to cortical actin. Functionally, KANK2 promotes RhoA inactivation by recruiting it to actin filaments, attenuating ROCK-mediated phosphorylation of MYPT1 and myosin light chain (MLC) to reduce actomyosin contractility. This activity is modulated by upstream regulators including Src kinase, TGF-beta, and mechanical cues. Key pathway components such as FAK, Vinculin, and ROCK further integrate signals at focal adhesions, influencing cell migration and adhesion dynamics.
In Jurkat cells, loss of KANK2 disrupts the delicate control of actin polymerization and focal adhesion stability, processes vital for T cell migration, immunological synapse formation, and antigen recognition. The knockout model enables dissection of how RhoA-ROCK signaling imbalances alter immune cell adhesion dynamics and mechanosensing, providing insight into T cell activation and cytoskeletal reorganization.
Applications include migration and invasion assays, immunofluorescence staining of focal adhesions, and flow cytometry-based integrin activation profiling. The cells can also be used for RhoA activation assays, phospho-MLC western blotting, and co-immunoprecipitation experiments to probe the KANK2 interactome. Additionally, they provide a platform for drug sensitivity testing against cytoskeletal pathways. For further details, contact Ascent Research.
