Rae-1 delta

Rae-1δ is a member of a family of cell-surface proteins that function as ligands for mouse NKG2D. Other family members are designated Rae-1 alpha, beta, gamma, and epsilon. Amino acid sequence identity within this family ranges from 88 - 95%. The Rae-1 proteins are distantly related to MHC class I proteins, but they possess only the alpha 1 and alpha 2 Ig-like domains, and they have no capacity to bind peptide or interact with beta 2-microglobulin. The Rae-1 proteins are anchored to the membrane via a GPI-linkage. The name of this family derives from the original identification of these proteins as the product of retinoic acid early inducible transcripts. Rae-1 expression is developmentally controlled.