Description
CD8, also known as Lyt-2, Ly-2, or T8, consists of disulfide-linked α and β chains that form the α(CD8a)/β(CD8b) heterodimer and α/α homodimer. CD8a is a 34kD protein that belongs to the immunoglobulin family. The CD8 α/β heterodimer is expressed on the surface of most thymocytes and a subset of mature TCR α/β T cells. CD8 expression on mature T cells is non-overlapping with CD4. The CD8 α/α homodimer is expressed on a subset of γ/δ TCR-bearing T cells, NK cells, intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes, and lymphoid dendritic cells. CD8 is an antigen co-receptor on T cells that interacts with MHC class I on antigen-presenting cells or epithelial cells. CD8 promotes T cell activation through its association with the TCR complex and protein tyrosine kinase lck.
Application Notes
Additional reported applications (for the relevant formats) include: partial inhibition of T-cell responses to IL-2 and cytotoxic induction of splenic T cells1, and immunohistochemistry2 of acetone-fixed frozen sections. The 5H10-1 antibody competes with 53-6.7 antibody (Cat. No. 100702) for binding to thymocytes1. Clone 5H10-1 is not recommended for immunohistochemistry of formalin-fixed paraffin sections.