Invitrogen™ Vimentin Monoclonal Antibody (J144)

Description

MA3-745 detects human, rat, and mouse vimentin and has been successfully used in HELA-S3, HEK-293, rat brain, and rat kidney cells. MA3-745 has been successfully used in Western blot, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence procedures. By Western blot, this antibody detects an ~57 kDa protein representing vimentin from HELA-S3 cells. Immunohistochemical staining of vimentin using MA3-745 can be performed. The MA3-745 immunogen was human rhabdosarcoma cell line JR1.

Vimentin is a developmentally regulated intermediate filament protein (IFP) found in cells of mesenchymal origin. It is believed to be involved with the intracellular transport of proteins between the nucleus and plasma membrane. Unlike other IFP proteins, vimentin is expressed, along with desmin, during the early stages of cellular development. During the development process, vimentin is exchanged for new, tissue-specific IFPs. Vimentin has been implicated to be involved in the rate of steroid synthesis via its role as a storage network for steroidogenic cholesterol containing lipid droplets. Vimentin phosphorylation by a protein kinase causes the breakdown of intermediate filaments and activation of an ATP and myosin light chain dependent contractile event. This results in cytoskeletal changes that facilitate the interaction of the lipid droplets within mitochondria, and subsequent transport of cholesterol to the organelles leading to an increase in steroid synthesis.