CD146
| MCAM | |||||||
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| Aliases | MCAM, CD146, MUC18, melanoma cell adhesion molecule | ||||||
| External IDs | OMIM: 155735 MGI: 1933966 HomoloGene: 4742 GeneCards: MCAM | ||||||
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| Species | Human | Mouse | |||||
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| Location (UCSC) | Chr 11: 119.31 – 119.32 Mb | Chr 9: 44.13 – 44.14 Mb | |||||
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CD146 (cluster of differentiation 146) also known as the melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) or cell surface glycoprotein MUC18, is a 113kDa cell adhesion molecule currently used as a marker for endothelial cell lineage. In humans, the CD146 protein is encoded by the MCAM gene.
MCAM functions as a receptor for laminin alpha 4, a matrix molecule that is broadly expressed within the vascular wall. Accordingly, MCAM is highly expressed by cells that are components of the blood vessel wall, including vascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and pericytes. Its function is still poorly understood, but evidence points to it being part of the endothelial junction associated with the actin cytoskeleton. A member of the Immunoglobulin superfamily, it consists of five Ig domains, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic region. It is expressed on chicken embryonic spleen and thymus, activated human T cells, endothelial progenitors such as angioblasts and mesenchymal stem cells, and strongly expressed on blood vessel endothelium and smooth muscle.
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