KHNYN Knockout HAP1 Polyclonal Cells are a CRISPR/Cas9-edited polyclonal knockout cell population providing a loss-of-function model for the KHNYN gene. Derived from the HAP1 cell line, these cells enable studies of KHNYN-dependent functions without specific editing details, offering a heterogeneous disruption of the target gene suitable for antiviral immunity and RNA metabolism research in a near-haploid background.
The HAP1 cell line is a near-haploid human line from a male chronic myeloid leukemia patient, harboring the Philadelphia chromosome (BCR-ABL1 translocation) and disomy for chromosome 8. Its near-haploid karyotype simplifies genetic manipulation, requiring disruption of only a single allele for many genes, making it ideal for functional genomics and viral host factor screens.
KHNYN acts as a cofactor for the antiviral zinc finger protein ZAP (ZC3HAV1), binding CpG-rich viral RNA and recruiting the RNA exosome complex (EXOSC10, DIS3) to degrade target RNA, thereby inhibiting viral replication. It is upregulated by type I interferons via IRF3/IRF7 downstream of RIG-I/MDA5/MAVS, and interacts with TRIM25 and XRN1. KHNYN thus bridges innate immune signaling and RNA decay to restrict retroviruses like HIV-1 and other RNA viruses.
In HAP1 cells, KHNYN knockout eliminates the need to consider allelic redundancy, providing a clean loss-of-function model for dissecting the ZAP-KHNYN antiviral axis. This system is valuable for studying restriction of CpG-rich viruses, retrotransposon control, and interferon-stimulated responses. Because HAP1 retains intact interferon signaling, the knockout allows assessment of how KHNYN contributes to the antiviral state induced by type I IFNs.
Applications include western blotting and genomic PCR for knockout validation, co-immunoprecipitation for ZAP or exosome interactions, RT-qPCR and RNA-seq for gene expression profiling, and HIV-1 infectivity luciferase assays to measure viral replication. The cells support interferon stimulation experiments, flow cytometry for viral antigens, and RNA immunoprecipitation. For further information and ordering, contact Ascent Research.
