Immunization of beta6 knockout mice with wild type mouse keratinocytes.
Integrins are heterodimeric cell surface receptors composed of alpha and beta subunits, which mediate cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix attachments. Aberrant integrin expression has been found in many epithelial tumors. Changes in integrin expression have been shown to be important for the growth and early metastatic capacity of melanoma cells. Integrin alphaV beta6 is upregulated in cancers and during tissue remodelling but is absent from resting adult tissues. Integrin alphaV beta6 promotes invasion and correlates with poor survival and therefore makes a promising therapeutic target. Applications: Suitable for use in Flow Cytometry, Immunoprecipitation and Function Blocking. Not suitable for use in Western Blot and Immunohistochemistry. Other applications not tested. Recommended Dilutions: Flow Cytometry (mouse and human): Use buffers containing 1mM Mg, since the epitope recognized is divalent cation-dependent. Immunoprecipitation: Effective. Protein G or rabbit anti-mouse IgG recommended for capture. Function Blocking: Inhibition of alphaV beta6-mediated cell adhesion and cell migration are achieved at a concentration of 100ug/ml using beta6 transfected cells tested against TGFbeta LAP (3). Note: Cell lines adhere to simple ligands (e.g. fibronectin) using more integrins than alphaV/beta6, so it would be necessary to also block other integrins (e.g. with anti-beta1 antibody) to see any effect of this antibody on adhesion to fibronectin. For example, H441 cells, which naturally express high levels of alphaV/beta6, may be used as a positive control. Optimal dilutions to be determined by the researcher. Storage and Stability: May be stored at 4C for short-term only. Aliquot to avoid repeated freezing and thawing. Store at -20C. Aliquots are stable for 12 months after receipt. For maximum recovery of product, centrifuge the original vial after thawing and prior to removing the cap.
