| Product Use |
Purified polyclonal CD68 antibody specific for Human CD68 for use in Immunohistochemistry and Western Blot. |
| Biological Significance |
CD68 is a glycoprotein which binds to low density lipoprotein. It could play a role in phagocytic activities of tissue macrophages, both in intracellular lysosomal metabolism and extracellular cell-cell and cell-pathogen interactions. CD68 binds to tissue- and organ-specific lectins or selectins, allowing homing of macrophage subsets to particular sites. Rapid recirculation of CD68 from endosomes and lysosomes to the plasma membrane may allow macrophages to crawl over selectin-bearing substrates or other cells. |
| Expression |
CD68 is highly expressed by blood monocytes and tissue macrophages. It is also expressed in lymphocytes, fibroblasts and endothelial cells. CD268 is located in the Lysosome membrane and the cellular membrane of most mammalian cells. |
| Implications in Disease |
CD68 expression in many tumor cell lines could allow tumors to attach to selectins on vascular endothelium, facilitating their dissemination to secondary sites. The presence of CD68 in macrophages also makes it useful in diagnosing conditions related to proliferation or abnormality of these cells, such as malignant histiocytosis, histiocytic lymphoma, and Gaucher's disease. |
| Sequence Information |
CD68 belongs to the LAMP family of proteins. It is composed of 354 amino acids with a molecular weight of 37408 Da. There is a Macrosialin chain at amino acids 22 – 354 and a Mucin-like region at aa 23 – 140. |
| Post-Translational Modifications |
CD68 is N- and O-glycosylated. Glycosylation occurs at Asn88, Asn96, Asn118, Asn126, Asn164, Asn199, Asn246, Asn261 and Asn279. |
| Database Links |
Entrez Gene: 968 Human, Omim: 153634 Human, SwissProt: P34810 Human, Unigene: 647419 Human |