CD15

CD15 (3-fucosyl-N-acetyl-lactosamine) is a cluster of differentiation antigen - an immunologically significant molecule. CD15 is a carbohydrate^[1] adhesion molecule that can be expressed on glycoproteins, glycolipids and proteoglycans.

Function

CD15 mediates phagocytosis and chemotaxis, found on neutrophils;^[2] expressed in patients with Hodgkin disease, some B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemias, acute lymphoblastic leukemias, and most acute nonlymphocytic leukemias. It is also called Lewis x and SSEA-1 (stage-specific embryonic antigen 1) and represents a marker for murine pluripotent stem cells, in which it plays an important role in adhesion and migration of the cells in the preimplantation embryo. It is synthezised by FUT4 (fucosyltransferase 4) and FUT9.^[3]

Diagnostic relevance

CD15 is present on almost all Reed–Sternberg cells, including their rare mononuclear variants, and, as such, can be used in immunohistochemistry to identify the presence of such cells in biopsies. The presence of these cells is diagnostic of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Reed-Sternberg cells display a characteristic pattern of CD15 positivity, with membranous staining combined with staining of the golgi apparatus. Immunohistochemical panels for the diagnosis of Hodgkins disease typically employ CD15 along with CD30 and CD45; the latter does not stain Reed-Sternberg cells, but does stain almost all other lymphoid cells. CD15 is also present in about 50% of adenocarcinoma cells and can be used to distinguish such conditions from mesothelioma, which is typically negative.^[4]

See also

• Sialyl Lewis X

References

1. CD15 Antigen at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
2. Kerr MA, Stocks SC (November 1992). "The role of CD15-(Le(X))-related carbohydrates in neutrophil adhesion". Histochem. J. 24 (11): 811–26. doi:10.1007/BF01046353. PMID 1362195.
3. Nakayama F, Nishihara S, Iwasaki H, Kudo T, Okubo R, Kaneko M, Nakamura M, Karube M, Sasaki K, Narimatsu H (May 2001). "CD15 expression in mature granulocytes is determined by alpha 1,3-fucosyltransferase IX, but in promyelocytes and monocytes by alpha 1,3-fucosyltransferase IV". J. Biol. Chem. 276 (19): 16100–6. doi:10.1074/jbc.M007272200. PMID 11278338.
4. Leong, Anthony S-Y; Cooper, Kumarason; Leong, F Joel W-M (2003). Manual of Diagnostic Cytology (2 ed.). Greenwich Medical Media, Ltd. pp. 83–84. ISBN 1-84110-100-1.