Rabbit polyclonal antibody to PDGF~A (K154)

PDGF is a mitogen for mesenchyme~ and glia~derived cells. It consists of two disulfide~bonded polypeptide chains, A and B, and occurs as three isoforms, PDGF~AA, PDGF~AB and PDGF~BB. The three isoforms bind with different affinities to two receptor types, α and β, which are structurally related and endowed with protein~tyrosine kinase domains. Ligand binding induces activation of the receptor kinases by formation of receptor dimers; the A subunit of PDGF binds only to α receptors with high affinity, whereas the B subunit can bind to both α and β receptors. Evidence suggests that PDGF may function as a neurotrophic factor. The fact that receptors for PDGF~A are expressed in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells whereas receptors for PDGF~B are expressed on neurons suggests that the different isoforms of PDGF may regulate growth and differentiation of different cell types in the developing central nervous system by paracrine and autocrine routes.