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Description

CD44 antigen (UniProt: P16070, also known as CDw44, Epican, Extracellular matrix receptor III, ECMR-III, GP90 lymphocyte homing/adhesion receptor, HUTCH-I, Heparan sulfate proteoglycan, Hermes antigen, Hyaluronate receptor, Phagocytic glycoprotein 1, PGP-1, Phagocytic glycoprotein I, PGP-I) is encoded by the CD44 (also known as LHR, MDU2, MDU3, MIC4) gene (Gene ID: 960) in human. CD44 is a single-pass type I membrane glycoprotein that is involved in cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion, and migration. It cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions are mediated through its affinity for hyaluronic acid (HA) and through other ligands. Adhesion with HA is considered to be important in cell migration, tumor growth, and progression. In cancer cells, it may play an important role in the formation of invadopodia. CD44 is synthesized with a signal peptide (aa 1-20), which is subsequently cleaved off to produce mature form. Its extracellular domain is localized to amino acids 21-649 and it has a short helical transmembrane domain (aa 650-670), and a cytoplasmic tail (aa 671-742). Nineteen different isoforms of CD44 are reported that are produced by alternative splicing.