Anti-CD44

Receptor for hyaluronic acid (HA). Mediates cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions through its affinity for HA, and possibly also through its affinity for other ligands such as osteopontin, collagens, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Adhesion with HA plays an important role in cell migration, tumor growth and progression. Also involved in lymphocyte activation, recirculation and homing, and in hematopoiesis. Altered expression or dysfunction causes numerous pathogenic phenotypes. Great protein heterogeneity due to numerous alternative splicing and post-translational modification events. Protein function: Cell-surface receptor that plays a role in cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion and migration, helping them to sense and respond to changes in the tissue microenvironment (PubMed:16541107, PubMed:19703720, PubMed:22726066). Participates thereby in a wide variety of cellular functions including the activation, recirculation and homing of T-lymphocytes, hematopoiesis, inflammation and response to bacterial infection (PubMed:7528188). Engages, through its ectodomain, extracellular matrix components such as hyaluronan/HA, collagen, growth factors, cytokines or proteases and serves as a platform for signal transduction by assembling, via its cytoplasmic domain, protein complexes containing receptor kinases and membrane proteases (PubMed:18757307, PubMed:23589287). Such effectors include PKN2, the RhoGTPases RAC1 and RHOA, Rho-kinases and phospholipase C that coordinate signaling pathways promoting calcium mobilization and actin-mediated cytoskeleton reorganization essential for cell migration and adhesion (PubMed:15123640). [The UniProt Consortium]