T-Cells

By Christina Towers, PhD.

By Jamshed Arslan Pharm.D.

By Christina Towers, PhD.

Studies on leukemias and other blood related malignancies is one of the most relevant investigational and medicinal applications of flow cytometry. In the bone marrow, normal blood cells undergo a progressive series of differentiation and branch off as myeloid, B and T cells. Hematological disorders can arise at any stage of the cell, while the differentiating cell will express a distinctive marker depending on the stage of differentiation.

CD4 is a member of the cluster of differentiation family of proteins, mainly expressed on the surface of thymocytes and a specific subset of mature T-cells. CD4 antibody studies have also shown it expressed on monocytes, cortical cells, microglial cells, dendritic cells and macrophages. The CD4 antibody is widely used in cell marker studies, CD4 being one of the most common CD markers in use.