Description
Purity: >95%, by SDS-PAGE visualized with Coomassie® Blue Staining. Description: Mesothelin (MSLN), also known as CAK1 and ERC, is a glycosylated cell-surface antigen present on normal mesothelial cells and over-expressed in several human tumors. The mesothelin gene encodes a ~70 kDa precursor protein that is cleaved at a dibasic proteolytic site into a 40 kDa membrane-bound protein termed MSLN and a 31 kDa shed fragment called megakaryocyte-potentiating factor (MPF) that is released from the cell. Cleaved, human MSLN remains attached to the cell surface via a GPI linkage and shares 58% amino acid sequence identity with mouse and rat MSLN. In human, alternate splicing generates additional MSLN isoforms that have either an eight amino acid insertion following Ser408 or a substituted C‑terminal region with no GPI anchor. Mesothelin is normally expressed on mesothelial cells in the pleura, pericardium, and peritoneum as well as in the developing and postnatal pancreas. It is up‑regulated in mesotheliomas and a range of carcinomas and adenomas. Mesothelin promotes tumor cell proliferation, migration, anchorage-independent growth, and tumor progression. It is co‑expressed with the tumor antigen CA125/MUC16 on advanced ovarian adenocarcinomas and interacts with this molecule to support cell adhesion. A soluble form of Mesothelin is released from tumor cells into the serum or tissue effusions