The KRT8 Knockout 143B Polyclonal Cells are a CRISPR/Cas9-edited polyclonal population derived from the 143B human osteosarcoma cell line, featuring targeted disruption of the KRT8 gene. This product provides a loss-of-function model for studying keratin 8, a critical component of the cytoskeletal intermediate filament network. The polyclonal pool enables researchers to assess the collective impact of KRT8 depletion on cellular phenotypes without clonal variation, suitable for functional genomics screens and pooled perturbation studies.
The 143B cell line is a highly metastatic variant of the HOS osteosarcoma cell line, originally derived from a human bone tumor. These cells exhibit robust metastatic potential in vivo and are widely employed in cancer biology to model tumor invasion and colonization. The 143B line is well-characterized for its aggressive behavior, making it an ideal platform for investigating genes involved in cytoskeletal dynamics and metastatic progression.
KRT8 encodes keratin 8, a type II intermediate filament protein that pairs with KRT18 to form cytoskeletal heteropolymers. It interacts with desmoplakin, HSP70, and plectin, anchoring filaments to desmosomes and maintaining structural integrity. KRT8 is regulated by EGFR, TGF-??, NF-??B, and AP-1 signaling, and it modulates the Fas receptor, ERK1/2, and focal adhesion kinase 1 (FAK). This positions KRT8 at a nexus controlling apoptosis, adhesion, and migration, and its disruption perturbs extracellular signal transduction to cytoskeletal reorganization.
Within the 143B osteosarcoma context, KRT8 knockout disrupts intermediate filament network integrity, leading to altered cell morphology, reduced adhesion, and compromised mechanical stability. This disruption sensitizes cells to Fas-mediated apoptosis and hampers focal adhesion kinase signaling, thereby impairing focal adhesion turnover and cell motility. Consequently, the model exhibits decreased migration and invasion capacity, mirroring key aspects of metastatic suppression. By decoupling keratin filament function from metastatic behavior, this system provides a defined experimental context to investigate cytoskeletal control of tumor dissemination.
This polyclonal knockout product is suited for diverse applications, including metastasis assays, cytoskeletal dynamics studies, apoptosis research, drug resistance profiling, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) modeling. It is compatible with standard techniques such as western blotting, immunofluorescence microscopy, migration/invasion assays, apoptosis assays, co-immunoprecipitation, RT-qPCR, and RNA-seq. The heterogeneous population format enables pooled functional genomics screens and bulk biochemical analyses, offering a practical alternative to clonal isolates. Researchers can leverage this model to probe KRT8 signaling interactions with KRT18, plectin, and Fas. For additional information, please contact Ascent Research.
