BD Transduction Laboratories™ Purified Mouse Anti-Human Plakophilin 2

Plakophilin 2 is a desmosomal plaque protein that belongs to the "arm" repeat family of proteins. Alternative splicing results in two isoforms: 2a (837 aa) and 2b (881 aa). The 2b isoform contains an insertion of 44 aa in the arm repeat unit 2. Other arm family members are ß-catenin, plakophilin 1, plakoglobin, pp120, and armadillo of Drosophila gene product. They have at least 9 repeats of the arm motif, which consists of approximately 42 aa, and a short carboxyl terminus. Plakophilins are constitutively expressed in desmosome-containing cells. Plakophilin 1 has been found only in desmosomal-containing cells, such as stratified and complex epithelia. Plakophilin 2 has been isolated from both desmosomal as well as non-desmosomal forming cells, including simple and glandular epithelia, and from nonepithelial tissues such as the mycocardium and Purkinje fibers. In addition, Plakophilin 2 is found in the karyoplasm of interphase cells. Plakophilins 2a and 2b are part of desmosomal plaques, although they are located primarily in the karyoplasm of the interphase nucleus. The function of nuclear plakophilin 2 remains to be identified.