CD49b Antibody, anti-mouse, Bi

Identification and enumeration of CD49b+ cells by flow cytometryClone REA541 recognizes the mouse CD49b antigen, a single-pass type I membrane protein also known as integrin alpha-2 (ITGA2). CD49b together with CD29 (ITGB1) forms the adhesion molecule very late antigen-2 (VLA-2), which binds mainly to collagens I, II, and XI. VLA-2 is responsible for adhesion of platelets and other cells to collagens, modulation of collagen and collagenase gene expression, force generation, and organization of newly synthesized extracellular matrix. It is also a receptor for laminins, collagen C-propeptides, and E-cadherin. Mice homozygous for a null mutation in the CD49b gene die very early in embryogenesis. CD49b is expressed on the vast majority of mouse NK cells and on a subset of NKT cells. It is not as mouse strain-restricted as other NK cell markers, for example, NK1.1, and is expressed by most common inbred mouse strains. Bone marrow (BM) resident memory T helper (Tʜ) cells also express CD49b and the homing of adoptively transferred BM memory Tʜ cells to BM can be efficiently blocked by antibodies to CD49b. This points to a decisive role of CD49b in the trafficking of memory Th cell precursors to the BM niches for memory Tʜ cells. | Additional information: Clone REA541 displays negligible binding to Fc receptors.