CoraLite®555-conjugated CD146/MCAM Monoclonal antibody

CD146, also known as melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) or MUC18, originally identified as a biomarker of melanoma progression, is a transmembrane glycoprotein of 113-130 kDa, belonging to the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily (PMID: 8378324; 25993332). Structurally, it consists of five Ig domains, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic region. In normal adult tissue, CD146 is primarily expressed by vascular endothelium and smooth muscle. CD146 is a key cell adhesion protein in vascular endothelial cell activity and angiogenesis, and has been used as marker of circulating endothelium cells (CECs) (PMID: 19356677). In addition to the membrane-anchored form of CD146, a soluble form of CD146 (sCD146, 105 kDa) has also been found in human plasma and in the supernatant of cultured human endothelial cells (PMID: 9462829; 19229070; 16374253; 14597988). This antibody detects a band at approximately 120 kDa that corresponds to the molecular weight of glycosylated CD146. Treatment of lysates of HepG2 cells and L02 cells with PNGase F, which removes oligosaccharides from N-linked glycoproteins, led to a down-shift of the detected band.