Mouse MSPR/Ron Antibody

Macrophage stimulating protein receptor (MSP R), encoded by the human RON and the mouse Stk, is one of a small family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that also includes human Met (the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor) and chicken Sea. This family of receptors is synthesized as a single-chain precursor that is cleaved into a mature disulfide-linked heterodimer composed of an extracellular alpha chain and a membrane spanning beta chain with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity. Mouse MSP R cDNA encodes a 1378 amino acid (aa) residue presursor protein with a 23 aa signal peptide, a 287 aa residue alpha chain (Ser 24 - Arg 310) and a 1068 aa residue transmembrane beta chain (Gly 311 - Thr 1378). Expression of MSP receptor is restricted to specific areas of the central and peripheral nervous systems, epithelial cells along the digestive tract, skin and lung, and in subpopulations of the mononuclear phagocyte lineage. Both the heterodimeric MSP and the free MSP beta chain have been shown to bind to MSP R. However, only the heterodimeric MSP binding can induce receptor dimerization and phosphorylation and cause biological activity.