Human Integrin  alpha 3/CD49c Fluorescein-conjugated Antibody

Applications

Please Note: Optimal dilutions should be determined by each laboratory for each application. General Protocols are available in the Technical Information section on our website.

Preparation and Storage

Background: Integrin alpha 3/CD49c

VLA-3 (Very Late Antigen 3) is a member of the integrin family, beta 1 subfamily, of cell membrane adhesion molecules (1 - 3). Integrins are nondisulfide-linked transmembrane (TM) heterodimers that contain an alpha - and beta -subunit (1). VLA-3 is composed of an alpha 3 and beta 1 subunit. The alpha 3/CD49c subunit is a 130 - 150 kDa type I TM glycoprotein. It only associates with the beta 1 integrin subunit. It is synthesized as a 1051 amino acid (aa) precursor that undergoes proteolytic cleavage to generate a disulfide-linked 110 kDa, 843 aa extracellular heavy chain and a 30 kDa, 176 aa TM/cytoplasmic light chain (1, 4, 5, 6). The heavy chain contains seven 60 aa repeats that fold into a propeller-like structure (7). Sequences involving the first three repeats are associated with ligand binding (1). The light chain has two cytoplasmic alternate splice forms. The A form cytoplasmic domain is 52 aa, while the B form cytoplasmic domain is 37 aa (5). Human alpha 3 heavy chain is 88% aa identical to mouse heavy chain. VLA-3 is known to bind fibronectin, collagen, and laminin-1, 5, 8, 10 and 11 (1). It also binds tetraspanins such as CD9, CD63 and CD151. CD151 binding may actually stabilize VLA-3, enabling it to bind to additional factors (8).

Product Datasheets

Related Research Areas

• Actin Stress Fibers and Focal Adhesions During EMT
• Adhesion Molecules
• Adhesion Molecules in Angiogenesis
• Epithelial Cell Polarity
• Integrins and Associated Molecules