Description
Product Characteristics: In the chicken, the CD8 molecule is present in two forms: (i) a homodimer of two chains, and (ii) a heterodimer of an chain and a chain. Chicken CD8 is expressed on approximately 80 % of thymocytes, 45 % of blood mononuclear cells and 50 % of spleen cells, but < 1 % of cells in the bursa and bone marrow. While the vast majority of CD8+ cells in the thymus, spleen, and blood of adult chickens express both CD8- and CD8-chains, a relatively large proportion of the CD8+ TCR- cells in the spleens of embryos and young chicks express only the -chain of CD8. Among intestinal epithelial lymphocytes, the major CD8+ T cell populations present in mice are conserved, but there is a population of TCR- CD8 cells in the chicken that is not found in rodents.
Target Information: The CD8 antigen is a cell surface glycoprotein found on most cytotoxic T lymphocytes that mediates efficient cell-cell interactions within the immune system. The CD8 antigen acts as a coreceptor with the T-cell receptor on the T lymphocyte to recognize antigens displayed by an antigen presenting cell in the context of class I MHC molecules. The coreceptor functions as either a homodimer composed of two alpha chains or as a heterodimer composed of one alpha and one beta chain. Both alpha and beta chains share significant homology to immunoglobulin variable light chains. This gene encodes the CD8 alpha chain. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2011]