Anti-Desmin K5 [Rabbit]

Desmin is a 53 kDa intermediate filament protein and exhibits a high degree of tissue specificity, its expression being predominantly confined to all types of muscle cells (cardiac, skeletal and smooth muscle). Regulation of desmin expression is stage and tissue-specific, since it is induced during terminal development and muscle cell differentiation. In skeletal en cardiac muscle cells desmin is localized in the Z-disk region and at the intercalated disk. The expression pattern of desmin in smooth muscle is much more heterogenous. Coexpression of desmin and vimentin has been observed in tumors derived from muscle tissue, i.e. rhabdomyosarcomas and leiomyosarcomas. Furthermore, during myocard dysfunction dramatic changes in the distribution of desmin have been observed. RCK106 reacts exclusively with Cytokeratin 18 in glandular epithelial cells of the digestive, respiRatory, and urogenital tracts, endocrine and exocrine cells and mesothelial cells, as well as adenocarcinomas originating from them. Protein function: Muscle-specific type III intermediate filament essential for proper muscular structure and function. Plays a crucial role in maintaining the structure of sarcomeres, inter-connecting the Z-disks and forming the myofibrils, linking them not only to the sarcolemmal cytoskeleton, but also to the nucleus and mitochondria, thus providing strength for the muscle fiber during activity (PubMed:25358400). In adult striated muscle they form a fibrous network connecting myofibrils to each other and to the plasma membrane from the periphery of the Z- line structures (PubMed:24200904, PubMed:25394388, PubMed:26724190). May act as a sarcomeric microtubule-anchoring protein: specifically associates with detyrosinated tubulin-alpha chains, leading to buckled microtubules and mechanical resistance to contraction. Contributes to the transcriptional regulation of the NKX2-5 gene in cardiac progenitor cells during a short period of cardiomyogenesis and in cardiac side population stem cells in the adult. Plays a role in maintaining an optimal conformation of nebulette (NEB) on heart muscle sarcomeres to bind and recruit cardiac alpha-actin. [The UniProt Consortium]