BD OptiBuild™ RB613 Mouse Anti-Mouse CD159a (NKG2A)

The 16a11 monoclonal antibody specifically recognizes the Mouse CD159a alloantigen that is also known as NKG2A alloantigen (NKG2A[B6] or NKG2AB6) which is expressed on subsets of C57BL/6 mouse NK, NK-T, or activated CD8+ T cells. CD159a (NKG2AB6) is an ~40 kDa single-pass type II transmembrane glycoprotein that is encoded by Klrc1 (Killer cell lectin-like receptor subfamily C member 1). This NKG2 receptor is comprised of an extracellular region with one C-type lectin domain followed by a transmembrane segment and a cytoplasmic tail with two immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIMs). It is expressed on the cell surface as a heterodimer that is disulfide bonded to CD94, an invariant type II C-type lectin-like transmembrane glycoprotein. The 16a11 antibody does not recognize NKG2A[BALB], the NKG2A alloantigen expressed by BALB/c mouse leucocytes. This antibody neither crossreacts with other NKG2 family members, NKG2C (NKG2C[B6]) nor NKG2E (NKG2E[B6]) alloantigens, nor CD94. Heterodimeric complexes of CD94 with either NKG2A, C, or E recognize Qa-1, a non-classical self-MHC class I antigen, presenting the Qdm signal peptide. This recognition endows NK cells with the capacity to detect cells with abnormal MHC class I expression that may result from cellular transformation or viral infection. Ligand-bound CD159a (NKG2AB6):CD94 can play a role in the inhibition of NK cell-mediated target cell lysis. When costaining cells with the 20d5 monoclonal antibody that is specific for mouse NKG2A/C/E receptors, crossblocking was reportedly minimized by first incubating cells with the 16a11 antibody and followed by the 20d5 antibody.