Clone REA409 recognizes the human vimentin antigen, a 57 kDa molecule which is one of the most widely expressed and highly conserved proteins of the type III intermediate filament (IF) protein family. Vimentin is expressed in a wide range of cell types, including pancreatic precursor cells, sertoli cells, neuronal precursor cells, trophoblastic giant cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells lining blood vessels, renal tubular cells, macrophages, neutrophils, mesangial cells, leukocytes, and renal stromal cells. Increased vimentin expression has been reported in various epithelial cancers including prostate cancer, gastrointestinal tumors, CNS tumors, breast cancer, malignant melanoma, lung cancer, and other types of cancers. Vimentin's over-expression in cancer correlates well with increased tumor growth, invasion, and poor prognosis. Vimentin has gained much importance as a canonical marker of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a cellular re-programming process in which the epithelial cells acquire a mesenchymal phenotype that renders the cells to dramatically alter their shape and exhibit increased motility. This EMT is characterized by the expression of vimentin IFs in epithelial cells, which normally express only keratin IFs. Accordingly, during the reverse process of EMT, known as mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), the cells start acquiring epithelial phenotype and show a decreased vimentin expression with lower motility rates.

Additional information: Clone REA409 displays negligible binding to Fc receptors.