Lessons from peroxisome-deficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutants

Cells with a genetic defect affecting a biological activity and/or a cell phenotype are generally called “cell mutants” and are a highly useful tool in genetic, biochemical, as well as cell biological research. To investigate peroxisome biogenesis and human peroxisome biogenesis disorders, more than a dozen complementation groups of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutants defective in peroxisome assembly have been successfully isolated and established as a model system. Moreover, successful PEX gene cloning studies by taking advantage of rapid functional complementation assay of CHO cell mutants invaluably contributed to the accomplishment of isolation of pathogenic genes responsible for peroxisome biogenesis diseases. Molecular mechanisms of peroxisome assembly are currently investigated by making use of such mammalian cell mutants.