Epithelial Cell Markers

• The purpose of epithelial cells is to function as a barrier, protecting the body from mechanical damage, invading micro organisms and the loss of body fluids.
• Detection of epithelial cells has a central role in research on cancer diseases.
• A range of antibodies has been established for detection of individual epithelial cells.
• Traditional epithelial marker are Epithelial Membrane Antigen (EMA also called MUC1) and pan cytokeratin.
• EMA is not produced by all epithelia, though, among them gastrointestinal epithelia and endocervical epithelia.

• anti-Epithelial Membrane Antigen (EMA) antibody (Ber-EP4)
• anti-pan cytokeratin antibody

Cell-surface proteins

Below you may find the most frequently used markers for epithelial cells including their specificity. By clicking on the antigens in the "selected antibodies" column you will reach the corresponding products.

Cytokeratins

But cytokeratins are produced by all epithelial cells and, being intermediate filaments, make up the major part of the cytoskeleton. Until now, 20 different cytokeratins have been discovered, all of which can be organised in two groups: the acidic cytokeratins (type A, 9-20) and the basic cytokeratins (type B, 1-8). Epithelial cells always express a type A cytokeratin together with a type B cytokeratin. They will form a complex, ensuring every epithelium contains at least 2 cytokeratins. To mark all epithelium types, antibody clones KL1 and MNF-116 can be used, or AE1/AE3, an antibody mixture of an antibody directed against acidic and one against basic cytokeratins.

• pan-Cytokeratin antibody (clone KL1)
• pan-Cytokeratin antibody (Cytokeratin 5, 6, 8, 17, 19) (clone MNF116)
• pan-Cytokeratin antibody (Cytokeratin 1-19) (clone AE1/AE3)

Specific epithelia can thus be detected by the correct combination of cytokeratin antibodies or with antibodies directed against a single cytokeratin. For example, cytokeratin 15 is a marker of hair follicle stem cells. This immunohistochemical analysis serves the allocation of tumours, or rather the matching of metastases and their primary tumour, because all epithelia and their associated tumours express a certain set of cytokeratins. Therefore, the location of the primary tumour can be limited to certain tissues based on the cytokeratins present.

Cell adhesion molecules

Most other epithelial markers are cell adhesion molecules, which play a role in the tight junctions between epithelial cells to make them impermeable. Among them E-cadherin, a cell-cell adhesion molecule at the contact areas of epithelial cells. E-cadherin is expressed in all epithelia, except for neuronal epithelium.

The epithelium specific antigen EpCAM is also a cell adhesion molecule and occurs in most healthy epithelial cells, but not in mucous squamous epithelium like the one in the upper airways and intestine. EpCAM is also a tumour marker, just as CA125 Ovarian Cancer Antigen is, a cell surface protein.

Under normal conditions, CA125 is additionally expressed in the cornea, conjunctiva, the middle ear and in the trachea.

• E-Cadherin (Cadherin-1,CD324) antibody
• Epithelial-specific Antigen (EpCAM) antibody

We offer a wide range of high-quality ELISA kits for various targets and sample types