Description
Product Characteristics: CD144 / VE-cadherin (cadherin 5) is the major cadherin that is present at endothelial junctions. It is also strictly endothelial specific. Under vascular permeability increasing conditions (and also in capillaries and veins) CD144 is being phosphorylated, which promotes its rapid and reversible internalization. On the contrary, binding of p120 catenin (delta1 catenin) maintains CD144 localization at the plasma membrane, which stabilizes the junction and reduces vascular permeability.
Target Information: This gene is a classical cadherin from the cadherin superfamily and is located in a six-cadherin cluster in a region on the long arm of chromosome 16 that is involved in loss of heterozygosity events in breast and prostate cancer. The encoded protein is a calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion glycoprotein comprised of five extracellular cadherin repeats, a transmembrane region and a highly conserved cytoplasmic tail. Functioning as a classic cadherin by imparting to cells the ability to adhere in a homophilic manner, the protein may play an important role in endothelial cell biology through control of the cohesion and organization of the intercellular junctions. An alternative splice variant has been described but its full length sequence has not been determined. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]