MUC-1 Antibody

Mucin-1 is a large cell surface mucin glycoprotein expressed by most glandular and ductal epithelial cells and some hematopoietic cell lineages. It is expressed on most secretory epithelium, including mammary gland and some hematopoietic cells. It is expressed abundantly in lactating mammary glands and over expressed in > 90% breast carcinomas and metastases. The transgenic protein has been shown to associate with all four c-erbB receptors and localize with c-erbB1 (EGFR) in lactating glands. The gene contains seven exons and produces several different alternatively spliced variants. The major expressed form of the protein uses all seven exons and is a type 1 transmembrane protein with a large extracellular tandem repeat domain. The tandem repeat domain is highly O glycosylated and alterations in glycosylation have been shown in epithelial cancer cells. Mucin-1 antibody is useful as a pan-epithelial marker for detecting early metastatic loci of carcinoma in bone marrow or liver. The specific epitope of this Mucin-1 antibody has not yet been determined.