Stemcell, 100-1634, Anti-Mouse CD8a Antibody, Clone 2.43

This monoclonal antibody (clone CD8a) reacts with mouse cluster of differentiation 8 subunit alpha (CD8a), a 32 - 34 kDa type I transmembrane glycoprotein. CD8 is a disulfide-bonded dimer, found either as a heterodimer of CD8a (α) and CD8b (β) subunits (i.e. αβ) or a homodimer (αα). Use this recombinant monoclonal antibody in applications requiring detection of CD8a, such as flow cytometry (FC).

CD8 is expressed in the αβ form by a majority of thymocytes and a subset of mature peripheral blood T cells (T cytotoxic cells), and in the ββ form by γδ T cells, a subset of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes, and dendritic cells. CD8 acts as a co-receptor to the T cell receptor (TCR) during T cell activation by binding to the major histocompatibility (MHC) Class I molecules presented by an antigen-presenting cell. The CD8a chain binds to the alpha3 domain of MHC class I molecules. It functions to strengthen the association between the TCR and MHC I-antigen complex and to amplify signals from the TCR to the cytoplasm through the interaction of its intracellular domain with cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases, such as lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase (Lck). This antibody is used as a phenotypic marker for mouse CD8 on cytotoxic T cells, thymocytes, as well as on certain cell types that do not express the TCR, which includes some natural killer cells and lymphoid dendritic cells.