Anti-ret proto-oncogene antibodies are used in the immunodetection of the protein encoded by the RET gene. In humans, the canonical protein has a reported length of 1114 amino acid residues and a mass of 124.3 kDa. Its subcellular localization is in the cell membrane. Alternative splicing is reported to yield 2 different isoforms for this protein. A member of the Tyr protein kinase protein family, it is a known receptor tyrosine-protein kinase involved in numerous cellular mechanisms including cell proliferation, neuronal navigation, cell migration, and cell differentiation upon binding with glial cell derived neurotrophic factor family ligands. Post-translational modifications have been described, including glycosylation, protein cleavage and phosphorylation. Other names for this target antigen include CDHR16, HSCR1, MEN2A, MEN2B, MTC1, PTC, RET-ELE1, and CDHF12.