Creative Biolabs, a world-leading service provider in the field of antibody discovery and generation, is proud to launch our high-quality in vitro diagnostic (IVD) antibody & immunoassay development services to global clients. Our services are customized toward a variety of disease biomarkers. Especially, we introduce MUC1/Y as a potential marker of breast cancer.
MUC1 gene in humans encodes a glycoprotein with extensive O-linked glycosylation of its extracellular domain, named Mucin 1, cell surface-associated (MUC1) or polymorphic epithelial mucin (PEM). Mucin proteins are present on the apical surface of epithelial cells in the lungs, stomach, intestines, eyes, and several other organs. They play an essential role in protecting the body from pathogen infection by preventing the pathogen from reaching the cell surface. Besides, the higher expression of MUC1 in tumor cells demonstrates that MUC1 is also involved in the oncogenic process as well as in cell signaling. Currently, several MUC1 protein isoforms have been identified, naming MUC1/TM, MUC1/SEC, MUC1/Y, MUC1/X, and MUC1/Z. The diverse isoforms also suggest a crucial role of MUC1 protein in many physiological and pathological processes. The expression of the MUC1/TM, MUC1/X, MUC1/Y, and MUC1/Z has been associated with the presence of malignancy, while expression of MUC1/SEC is mostly found in non-malignant tissue.
Fig.1 Structure of MUC1.1
It has been reported that MUC1 is overexpressed and aberrantly glycosylated in breast adenocarcinoma and many epithelial tumors. Furthermore, the repeat array-containing mucin-like MUC1 protein may be involved in the metastatic spread of cancer cells from the initial tumor site by reducing cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. The MUC1/Y isoform is a MUC1 transmembrane protein lacking variable numbers of tandem repeats (VNTR), with a different property to the polymorphic repetitive sequence-array-positive MUC1 protein. The significant level of the MUC1/Y protein is found in primary breast cancer tissue samples while undetectable in tissue adjacent to the tumor. This suggests that MUC1/Y protein is a promising diagnostic、prognostic marker for human breast cancer.
Biomarker-specific antibodies provide powerful tools for diagnostic purposes. With years of experience in antibody development, Creative Biolabs can help with the development of antibodies with high affinity and specificity to generate a reliable immunodiagnostic kit. Also, we offer customized development services for immunoassays based on different technologies. For more detailed information about what we offer for each stage of the development process, please click the links below:
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Reference
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