CD44 (BSB-12), MMab

Intended Use

For In Vitro Diagnostic Use

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The CD44 protein is a cell-surface glycoprotein involved in cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion and migration. CD44 is also known as Homing-cell adhesion molecule (H-CAM) and Phagocytic glycoprotein-1 (PgP-1). A specialized sialofucosylated glycoform of CD44 called HCELL is found natively on human hematopoietic stem cells and functions as a “bone-homing receptor”, directing migration of human hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells to bone marrow. This protein participates in a wide variety of cellular functions including lymphocyte activation, recirculation and homing, hematopoiesis, and tumor metastasis. Transcripts for this gene undergo complex alternative splicing that results in many functionally distinct isoforms; however, the full-length nature of some of these variants has not been determined. Splice variants of CD44 on Colon Cancer cells display the HCELL glycoform, which mediates binding to vascular E-selectin under hemodynamic flow conditions, a critical step in Colon Cancer metastasis. In addition, variations in CD44 are reported as cell surface markers for some breast and prostate cancer stem cells and have been seen as an indicator of increased survival time in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer patients.