Transcriptomic analysis of ZHX3-depleted HepG2 cells

The aim of this RNA-Seq analysis was to identify target genes of the transcription repressor ZHX3 in HepG2 cells. To do so, four stable lines were generated in HepG2 using three different ZHX3-targeting CRISPR constructs and an empty vector construct. Bulk RNA-Seq analysis was performed on these four lines. Sequencing was done by NovogeneAIT Genomics using the Illumina® NovaSeq6000-PE150 platform and 63-82 million base pairs were sequenced per sample. A total of 47 and 156 genes were found to be consistently upregulated and downregulated (fold change ≥ 2 and FDR < 0.05), respectively, in all three KO lines as compared to the empty control line. Functional enrichment analysis of the 156 upregulated genes using g:profiler revealed the enrichment of two biological processess, urate transport and urate metabolic process. qPCR analysis validated the upregulation of uric acid transporter gene SLC17A1.