Anti-Human CD8 - Purified

CD8 is made up of disulfide-linked α and β chains that form the α(CD8a)/β(CD8b) heterodimer and α/α homodimer. CD8 is part of the Ig superfamily that expresses primarily as CD8a homodimers. CD8a is a 32-34 kD type I glycoprotein that can also form heterodimers with CD8b. CD8 is an antigen co-receptor on T cells that mediates efficient cell to cell interactions within the immune system. CD8 coupled with the T cell receptor on the T lymphocyte recognizes an antigen displayed by an antigen presenting cell (APC) in the context of class I MHC molecules. The CD8 co-receptor also plays a role in T cell signaling by interacting with Lck (lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase) which leads to the activation of transcription factors that affect the expression of certain genes.