PDCD2L Knockout Raji Polyclonal Cells are a CRISPR/Cas9-edited polyclonal knockout cell population derived from the Raji B lymphocyte cell line, designed for targeted disruption of the programmed cell death 2-like gene (PDCD2L). This product provides a genetically heterogeneous pool of cells each carrying loss-of-function alleles at the PDCD2L locus, enabling robust investigation of gene function without clonal selection artifacts. The polyclonal format preserves biological variability within the population, making it particularly suitable for pooled functional genomics screens and studies of nucleolar stress responses in a lymphoblastoid background.
The parental Raji cell line is an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive B lymphoblastoid line originally established from a Burkitt lymphoma patient. These cells retain key features of mature B lymphocytes, including surface immunoglobulin expression and the capacity for antigen presentation, making them a workhorse model for humoral immunity and B-cell malignancies. Raji cells harbor a characteristic MYC translocation that drives constitutive proliferation, providing a highly relevant context for examining how PDCD2L loss alters growth control and apoptotic thresholds in a MYC-deregulated background.
PDCD2L encodes a nucleolar protein that forms complexes with PDCD2, NOP56, and fibrillarin to regulate ribosome biogenesis. It functions downstream of MYC and E2F transcription factors, which are master regulators of ribosome synthesis and cell cycle progression. PDCD2L participates in pre-rRNA processing and ensures proper assembly of ribosomal subunits; its disruption impairs these steps, triggering a nucleolar stress response that can stabilize p53 and lead to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. The pathway converges on ribosomal proteins and p53-dependent checkpoints, positioning PDCD2L at a critical node linking growth signals to translational output.
In the Raji lymphoma model, PDCD2L knockout introduces a synthetic vulnerability by exacerbating nucleolar stress in cells already driven by high MYC activity. This model is invaluable for dissecting how oncogenic MYC rewires ribosome biogenesis and for identifying dependencies that can be exploited therapeutically. Because Raji cells are of B-cell origin and EBV-positive, the knockout system also permits exploration of lymphomagenesis mechanisms and the interplay between viral latency and nucleolar function, providing insights into lymphoproliferative disorders and potential targeted treatment strategies.
Typical applications include cancer cell biology research, particularly studies on Burkitt lymphoma and other MYC-driven malignancies, ribosome biogenesis investigations, apoptosis signaling analysis, and drug sensitivity screening. Researchers can monitor PDCD2L knockout effects using Western blotting to assess ribosomal protein levels, RT-qPCR for rRNA processing intermediates, flow cytometry for annexin V-based apoptosis detection, cell proliferation assays, and immunofluorescence staining for nucleolar markers such as fibrillarin and NOP56. For further technical details or custom applications, please contact Ascent Research.
