CD8a Rat anti-Mouse, PE, Clone: 53-6.7, BD

The 53-6.7 antibody has been reported to react with the 38 kDa α and 34 kDa α' chains of the CD8 differentiation antigen (Ly-2 or Lyt-2) of all mouse strains tested. The CD8 α and α' chains (CD8a) form heterodimers with the CD8 β chain (CD8b, Ly-3, or Lyt-3) on the surface of most thymocytes. A subpopulation of mature T lymphocytes (i.e., MHC class I-restricted T cells, including most T suppressor/cytotoxic cells) expresses almost exclusively the CD8 αβ heterodimer (the α' chain is absent). Subsets of γδ TCR-bearing T cells, intestinal intrapithelial lymphocytes, and dendritic cells express CD8a without CD8b. It has been suggested that the expression of the CD8a/CD8b heterodimer is restricted to T lymphocytes which matured in the thymus or in an extrathymic environment that had been influenced by thymus-initiated neuroendocrine signals. CD8 is an antigen coreceptor on the T-cell surface which interacts with MHC class I molecules on antigen-presenting cells or epithelial cells. It participates in T-cell activation through its association with the T-cell receptor complex and protein tyrosine kinase lck (p56 lck). The CD8 α and α' chains arise from alternatively spliced messengers of a single CD8a gene. The longer α form associates with p56 (lck) via a CXCP motif in its cytoplasmic domain, which it shares with CD4, but not with CD8b. The truncated α' chain is unable to associate with p56 (lck), and it may function to attenuate the CD8-mediated costimulatory signal during intrathymic T-cell maturation. In vivo and in vitro treatment with 53-6.7 mAb has reportedly been effective at depleting CD8+ peripheral T lymphocytes. The 53-6.7 antibody has also been reported to cross-reaact with CD8 α- and α'-like polypeptides on subsets of thymic and peripheral lymphocytes in the Egyptian toad, Bufo regularis. This antibody is routinely tested by flow cytometric analysis and is compatible with intracellular staining protocols using the BD Cytofix/Cytoperm™ Kit (Cat. No. 554714). Other applications were tested at BD Biosciences Pharmingen during antibody development only or reported in the literature.

Host Species: Rat
Clone: 53-6.7
Isotype: IgG2a κ
Species Reactivity: Mouse
Immunogen: Mouse Thymus / Spleen

Flow Cytometry, Intracellular Staining