Description
CD36 (Cluster of Differentiation 36) is also known as platelet membrane glycoprotein IV (GPIV), fatty acid translocase (FAT), thrombospondin receptor, collagen receptor, and scavenger receptor class B, member 3 (SRB3), is a member of the class B scavenger receptor family of cell surface proteins. The human CD36 gene encodes a single chain 472 amino acid residue protein containing both an N- and a C-terminal cytoplasmic tail and an extracellular loop.CD36 is found on platelets, erythrocytes, monocytes, differentiated adipocytes, mammary epithelial cells, spleen cells and some skin microdermal endothelial cells. CD36 is a multiligand pattern recognition receptor that interacts with a large number of structurally dissimilar ligands, including long chain fatty acid (LCFA), advanced glycation end products (AGE), thrombospondin-1, oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDLs), high density lipoprotein (HDL), phosphatidylserine, apoptotic cells, beta-amyloid fibrils (fAβ), collagens I and IV, and Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes. CD36 is required for the anti-angiogenic effects of thrombospondin1 In the corneal neovascularization assay. On binding a ligand the protein and ligand are internalized. This internalization is independent of macropinocytosis and occurs by an actin dependent mechanism requiring the activation Src-family kinases, JNK and Rho-family GTPases. CD36 ligands have also been shown to promote sterile inflammation through assembly of a Toll-like receptor 4 and 6 heterodimer