Recombinant full-length human MUC1 protein was used as the immunogen for the recombinant Mucin-1 antibody.
Mucin-1 may provide a protective layer on epithelial cells against bacterial and enzyme attack. In immunohistochemical assays, it superbly stains routine formalin/paraffin carcinomas. Anti-Mucin-1 antibody is a useful marker for staining many carcinomas. It stains normal and neoplastic cells from various tissues, including mammary epithelium, sweat glands and colorectal carcinoma. Hepatocellular carcinoma, adrenal carcinoma and embryonal carcinomas are consistently Mucin-1 negative, so keratin positivity with negative Mucin-1 favors one of these tumors. Mucin-1 is frequently positive in meningioma, which can be useful when distinguishing it from other intracranial neoplasms such as schwannomas. Antibody to Mucin-1 is useful as a pan-epithelial marker for detecting early metastatic loci of carcinoma in bone marrow or liver.
