QA-2 Antibody, anti-mouse, APC

Identification and enumeration of QA-2+ cells by flow cytometryClone REA523 recognizes the mouse Qa-2 antigen, a 40 kDa single-pass type I membrane protein, which is also known as H-2 class I histocompatibility antigen Q7 alpha chain (H2-Q7). Qa-2 is a murine non-classical MHC class I molecule involved in the modulation of immune responses by interacting with T CD8+ and NK cell inhibitory receptors. The murine Qa-2 genes map to the H-2Q region, between the classical class I H-2D locus and the H-2TL cluster of class lb sequences. This locus encodes a variable number of class Ib genes in different strains. Strains expressing high (Qa-2high), medium (Qa-2med), low (Qa-2low), and no Qa-2 (Qa-2nul) were identified. Qa-2 is found as membrane-bound and soluble isoforms generated by alternative splicing. It is expressed mostly by lymphoid-derived cells and plays an important role in controlling growth and murine fetal development and, like HLA-G, the molecule is related to the protection of the fetus by inhibiting maternal NK cell-mediated lysis. | Additional information: Clone REA523 displays negligible binding to Fc receptors.