CD48 Specific Neutra™ Antibody Products

Cluster of Differentiation 48 (CD48, also known as SLAMF2, BLAST1, BCM1) is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein belonging to the CD2 subfamily of the immunoglobulin superfamily, encoded by the CD48 gene containing 4 exons and located on chromosome 1q23. The CD48 molecule consists of 4 domains: a variable (V) domain, a signal peptide, a GPI anchor, and a constant 2 (C2) domain. CD48 is widely distributed on the surface of immune cells (particularly in antigen-presenting cells), endothelial cells, and dendritic cells, playing multiple roles in a variety of pathways in these cells.

Its Gene ID: 962, UniProtKB ID: P09326, and OMIM ID: 109530.

Fig.1 Visualization of crystallized protein CD48.Distributed under CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wiki, without modification.

Functions of CD48 in Diseases

CD48 is identified as an adhesion and costimulatory molecule. It binds to CD2 with a low affinity and participates in multiple innate or adaptive immune responses, including allergy to T cell activation, granulocyte activity, and autoimmunity, as well as nature killer (NK) cells or CTL function and antimicrobial immunity. Therefore, CD48 is closely associated with a wide range of autoimmune disease and allergy diseases.

In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), previous studies have also reported that CD48 binds to its receptor CD244 (2B4) with high affinity thus leading to dysfunction of NK cells elicited by monocyte/macrophage, resulting in both stimulatory and inhibitory outcomes. These results indicate that CD48 might be essential in mediating the immune response in both activation and suppression of immune responses. Besides, GDF15, an HCC-derived immunosuppressive molecule, is also revealed to interact with CD48, to promote the generation of iTreg cells and the suppressive function of nTreg cells.

In a recently published study, it is demonstrated that CD48 and CD38 are under epigenetic regulation mediated by KDM6A, an important regulator of sensitivity to anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody (mAb)-mediated ADCC, further regulating NK cell response in multiple myeloma (MM).

Fig.2 Epigenetic regulation of NK cell-mediated immune response in MM mAb therapy.¹

Clinical Significance of CD48

As overexpression of CD48 is widely observed in autoimmune diseases, allergy diseases, and some hematologic malignancies, anti-CD48 antibodies have been regarded as a robust research tool or potential therapeutics. It is reported that an anti-CD48 mAb is able to attenuate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Another study has designed and evaluated an anti-CD48 mAb that could deplete MM cells in vitro and inhibit MM cell growth in SCID mice. Besides, CD48 is also being studied as a candidate marker for inflammation and therapies for HIV/AIDS.

Creative Biolabs offers many different anti-CD48 antibody products. These antibodies are recombinantly expressed and could be used for various purposes. Customization of CD48-based bispecific antibodies is also available for you here.

REFERENCE

1. Liu, Jiye, et al. "Epigenetic regulation of CD38/CD48 by KDM6A mediates NK cell response in multiple myeloma." Nature Communications 15.1 (2024): 1367. Under open access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.