Human GYG1 shRNA Lentivirus

Background

GYG1 encodes glycogenin-1, a self-glucosylating enzyme that initiates glycogen biosynthesis. Glycogenin catalyzes the formation of a short oligosaccharide chain on one of its own tyrosine residues, creating the primer onto which glycogen synthase and branching enzyme extend a mature glycogen particle. Glycogenin-1 is the predominant isoform in skeletal muscle and many other tissues, making it essential for glycogen storage and carbohydrate energy metabolism. Loss-of-function mutations in GYG1 cause glycogen storage disease and polyglucosan body myopathy, characterized by abnormal glycogen accumulation and muscle dysfunction. Because glycogen metabolism supports proliferation and stress survival, GYG1 is also of interest in cell biology and cancer research.

Product Description & Applications

The Human GYG1 shRNA Lentivirus delivers validated short hairpin RNA targeting human GYG1 for stable gene knockdown. The shRNA is validated to achieve at least 70% reduction of GYG1 using a fluorescence-based assay that provides a direct functional readout rather than transcript-level qPCR. The particles are ultra-purified and concentrated to high titer by PEG precipitation and sucrose gradient centrifugation, and efficiently transduce difficult-to-transfect cells, including primary and thawed cultures. A co-expressed fluorescent reporter (GFP or RFP, optionally with luciferase) and antibiotic selection marker (puromycin or blasticidin) enable rapid establishment of stable knockdown cell lines. The system supports loss-of-function studies of glycogen biosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and related disease mechanisms.

About This Product

This validated shRNA lentivirus targeting GYG1 (NCBI Accession: NM_004130.4) delivers a 19–20 bp shRNA from a third-generation, self-inactivating lentiviral backbone. Expression is driven from a U6 Pol III promoter, with a constitutively expressed fluorescent reporter (GFP, GFP/Luc, RFP, RFP/Luc) and antibiotic selection marker (Blasticidin, Puromycin) co-expressed from the same vector. VSV-G pseudotyping enables broad cell tropism, including primary, suspension, and cryopreserved cell types.

Knockdown is validated using a proprietary bicistronic fluorescence assay in which the target mRNA is co-expressed fused to RFP alongside the shRNA-GFP construct. At least 70% reduction in RFP signal in GFP-positive cells confirms on-target activity — a more direct functional readout than transcript-level qPCR. Polyclonal stable lines can be generated by antibiotic selection within 10 days, preserving parental cell heterogeneity compared to single-clone CRISPR approaches.