CD8α (RPA-T8) Mouse mAb (FITC Conjugate)

Product Usage Information

Storage

Specificity / Sensitivity

Species Reactivity:

Human

Source / Purification

This monoclonal antibody was purified from tissue culture supernatant via affinity chromatography. The purified antibody was conjugated under optimal conditions, with unreacted dye removed from the preparation.

Product Description

Background

Cluster of Differentiation 8 (CD8) is a disulphide-linked heterodimer consisting of the unrelated α and β subunits. Each subunit is a glycoprotein composed of a single extracellular Ig-like domain, a polypeptide linker, a transmembrane part and a short cytoplasmic tail. On T cells, CD8 is the coreceptor for the T cell receptor (TCR), and these two distinct structures recognize the Antigen–Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). Specifically, the Ig-like domain of CD8α interacts with the α3-domain of the MHC class I molecule. CD8 ensures specificity of the TCR–antigen interaction, prolongs the contact between the T cell and the antigen presenting cell, and the α chain recruits the tyrosine kinase Lck, which is essential for T cell activation (1).
The RPA-T8 antibody is widely used as a phenotypic marker for CD8 on cytotoxic T cells and thymocytes (2,3), as well as on certain cell types that do not express the TCR, including some NK cells (4).