Laminin gamma 2 antibody [P2H]

Laminins, which consist of three subunits called alpha, beta and gamma chains, are major cell-adhesive components of extracellular matrix, especially basement membranes (BMs). The laminin family is constituted of over 15 isoforms, and each member is expressed in a tissue-specific manner and plays a differential role in each tissue. Laminin gamma 2 chain is a subunit of laminin-332 isoform, formerly laminin-5, but it is frequently overexpressed as a monomer form or the beta3-gamma2 heterodimer in invasive cancers. Laminin gamma 2 is a protein of approximately 150 kDa and cleaved at its short arm mainly by bone morphogenic protein-1 (BMP1) in cancer cells, releasing an N-terminal proteolytic fragment (gamma 2pf) of 45 kDa. The short arm and gamma 2pf are also cleaved by MMPs and serine proteinases, releasing further small N-terminal fragments.This antibody recognizes laminin gamma 2 chain of laminin-332 on normal epithelial basement membranes, while in malignant cancer tissues it strongly immunostains the cytoplasm of cancer cells at invasion fronts. Thus, P2H is an important antibody capable of highly detecting the tumor invasion marker laminin gamma 2 chain. P2H is an only commercially available antibody to detect the N-terminal proteolytic fragments of laminin gamma 2 chain in cancer tissues. It is useful for pathological assessment of invasiveness and malignancy in various types of human cancers.