Cas9 Stable Cell Line - Raji

The Raji-Cas9 stable cell line is a top-tier immunological model established by integrating the Cas9 nuclease into the human Raji B lymphoblast cell line. Raji, the first continuous human hematopoietic cell line, was isolated in 1963 from a 12-year-old male patient with Burkitt lymphoma. These cells are EBV-positive, exhibit typical B lymphocyte morphology, and can grow in suspension. Constitutive expression of Cas9 in Raji cells provides a highly reproducible and efficient platform for CRISPR-mediated gene editing, overcoming the low transfection efficiency commonly found in non-adhesive lymphocytes. This stable cell line ensures the sustained activity of the editing mechanism, making it ideal for high-throughput screening and the construction of targeted genome modifications in a well-defined B-cell environment.

The Raji-Cas9 stable cell line has a wide range of applications, spanning from basic immunology to the development of cancer immunotherapies. It is a key tool for identifying genes involved in B-cell receptor signaling, immune activation, and the regulation of EBV-associated lymphoid tissue latency. Because Raji cells highly express CD19 and CD20, researchers used Raji-Cas9 cells as target cells in cytotoxicity assays to evaluate the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and bispecific antibodies. Furthermore, this cell line was used for CRISPR screening to discover novel regulators of Burkitt lymphoma resistance and to validate potential therapeutic targets. Its stable Cas9 expression allows for the rapid construction of homologous mutants, providing a reliable system for mapping the gene networks regulating lymphoma survival and immune escape.