Anti-Cytokeratin 19 KRT19 Antibody Picoband® (monoclonal, 3D4)

Keratin, type I cytoskeletal 19 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the KRT19 gene. The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the keratin family. It is specifically expressed in the periderm, the transiently superficial layer that envelops the developing epidermis. The type I cytokeratins are clustered in a region of chromosome 17q12-q21. Due to its high sensitivity, KRT19 is the most used marker for the RT-PCR-mediated detection of tumor cells disseminated in lymph nodes, peripheral blood, and bone marrow of breast cancer patients. Keratin 19 is often used together with keratin 8 and keratin 18 to differentiate cells of epithelial origin from hematopoietic cells in tests that enumerate circulating tumor cells in blood.

A synthetic peptide corresponding to a sequence at the C-terminus of human Cytokeratin 19, different from the related mouse and rat sequences by nine amino acids.

Expressed in a defined zone of basal keratinocytes in the deep outer root sheath of hair follicles. Also observed in sweat gland and mammary gland ductal and secretory cells, bile ducts, gastrointestinal tract, bladder urothelium, oral epithelia, esophagus, ectocervical epithelium (at protein level) . Expressed in epidermal basal cells, in nipple epidermis and a defined region of the hair follicle. Also seen in a subset of vascular wall cells in both the veins and artery of human umbilical cord, and in umbilical cord vascular smooth muscle. Observed in muscle fibers accumulating in the costameres of myoplasm at the sarcolemma in structures that contain dystrophin and spectrin.

Involved in the organization of myofibers. Together with KRT8, helps to link the contractile apparatus to dystrophin at the costameres of striated muscle.

1. Entrez Gene: KRT19 keratin 19. 2. Schweizer J, Bowden PE, Coulombe PA, Langbein L, Lane EB, Magin TM, Maltais L, Omary MB, Parry DA, Rogers MA, Wright MW (Jul 2006) . New consensus nomenclature for mammalian keratins. J Cell Biol 174 (2) : 169–74. 3. W. Jeffrey Allard, Jeri Matera, M. Craig Miller, et al. (October 2004) . Tumor Cells Circulate in the Peripheral Blood of All Major Carcinomas but not in Healthy Subjects or Patients With Nonmalignant Diseases. Clin. Cancer Research 10 (20) : 6897–6904.

Store at -20°C for one year from date of receipt. After reconstitution, at 4°C for one month. It can also be aliquotted and stored frozen at -20°C for six months. Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles.