CD44

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CD44 molecule
Identifiers
Symbol	CD44 MIC4, MDU2, MDU3
HUGO	1681
Entrez	960
OMIM	107269
RefSeq	NM_000610
UniProt	P16070
Other data
Locus	Chr. 11 p13

The CD44 protein is a cell-surface glycoprotein involved in cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion and migration. It is a receptor for hyaluronic acid and can also interact with other ligands, such as osteopontin, collagens, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs).

This protein participates in a wide variety of cellular functions including lymphocyte activation, recirculation and homing, hematopoiesis, and tumor metastasis. Transcripts for this gene undergo complex alternative splicing that results in many functionally distinct isoforms, however, the full length nature of some of these variants has not been determined. Alternative splicing is the basis for the structural and functional diversity of this protein, and may be related to tumor metastasis.

CD44, along with CD25, is used to track early T cell development in the thymus.

[edit] External links

• MeSH CD44+Antigen