Clone REA425 recognizes both the normal human CD246 and the nucleolar protein nucleophosmin-CD246 (NPM-CD246) chimeric antigen. CD246 is a single-pass type I membrane protein which is also known as anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). It is a neuronal orphan receptor tyrosine kinase having a putative transmembrane domain and an extracellular domain. These sequences are absent in the product of the transforming NPM-CD246 gene. CD246 plays an important role in the genesis and differentiation of the nervous system. It is essentially and transiently expressed in specific regions of the central and peripheral nervous systems. CD246 is also expressed in the small intestine and testis, but not in normal lymphoid cells. It transduces signals from ligands at the cell surface, through specific activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a heterogeneous group of diseases by morphology, phenotype, genotype, and clinical presentation. The production of the fusion product NPM-CD246, which is associated with ALCL, is a result of the t(2;5)(p23;q35) chromosomal translocation.

Additional information: Clone REA425 displays negligible binding to Fc receptors.