An amino acid sequence from the variant 4 domain of CD44 was used as the immunogen for the CD44v4 antibody.
This antibody recognizes an epitope encoded by exon v4 on the variant portion of human CD44. The CD44 molecule belongs to a family of cellular adhesion molecules found on a wide range of normal and malignant cells in epithelial, mesothelial and hemopoiesis tissues. It is a single gene with 20 exons, of which 10 are normally expressed to encode the basic CD44 (H-CAM) molecule. The additional 10 exons (v1 to v10) are only expressed by alternative splicing of the nuclear RNA. The expression of specific cell adhesion molecule CD44 splice variants has been reported to be associated with metastasis in certain human malignancies.
