Cell biological analysis of DT40 knockout cell lines for cell-cycle genes

DT40 is a chicken B cell line that has been widely used as a model for gene functional studies because the high level of homologous recombination in DT40 cells allows targeted disruption of a gene of interest. While our laboratory uses DT40 cells to understand kinetochore assembly and function, the approach is applicable to functional studies of other genes that are required for cell cycle progression. Protocols are presented for the creation of knockout cells and subsequent cell biological analyses for characterizing the phenotypes of these cells.