SLC7A8 Knockout Cell Line (HEK293)

The choice depends on whether you are studying SLC7A8 (LAT2)'s role as a heterodimeric amino acid transporter or its specific contributions to small neutral amino acid transport in tissues like kidney and small intestine. The Knockout line is the standard tool for asking whether LAT2 is required for system L-like transport of broad-range amino acids — LAT2 partners with 4F2hc/CD98 to form a functional heterodimeric exchanger. Overexpression is useful for transport kinetics studies, but functional surface expression requires 4F2hc coexpression. For amino acid transporter research, the EDITGENE SLC7A8 Knockout in HEK293 is a standard mechanistic platform. Note that LAT2 and LAT1 (SLC7A5) have partially overlapping substrate scopes but distinct affinity profiles — LAT2 has broader substrate range including small neutral amino acids. Rescue with wild-type or transport-deficient LAT2 enables structure-function dissection.

Primary applications: • Amino acid uptake assays: cellular uptake of radiolabeled small/medium neutral amino acids (alanine, serine, threonine, leucine) to assess LAT2 transport activity. • 4F2hc partnership studies: co-expression analysis with 4F2hc (CD98)/SLC3A2 to characterize functional heterodimer formation. • LAT1/LAT2 specificity: comparison with LAT1 (also available from EDITGENE) for paralog-specific substrate scope characterization. • Inhibitor screening: critical genetic control for testing LAT2-selective compounds. EDITGENE recommends this model for researchers investigating heterodimeric amino acid transporter biology and LAT family substrate specificity.

Yes. LAT2 rescue experiments require attention to heterodimer partnership requirements: • Construct design: use a codon-modified SLC7A8 sequence with a small C-terminal tag (FLAG, HA). LAT2 has 12 transmembrane domains — N-terminal tags must not disrupt membrane topology. • 4F2hc co-expression: LAT2 requires 4F2hc/CD98/SLC3A2 for functional surface expression — rescue cells should be characterized for 4F2hc expression, or co-rescue with 4F2hc may be needed in 4F2hc-low backgrounds. • Transport-deficient rescue: substrate-binding pocket mutations enable distinguishing transport activity from non-transport functions. • Functional readout: rescue should restore small/medium neutral amino acid uptake measured by radiolabel or LC-MS detection. HEK293 transduces efficiently with lentivirus and supports the bicistronic or co-rescue strategies often needed for heterodimeric transporter studies.