Alexa Fluor® 488 Mouse Anti-Human CD98 Antibody (S-5622)

CD98 (also known as 4F2 heavy chain or SLC3A2) is a widely expressed type II transmembrane glycoprotein that forms a heterodimeric complex through a disulfide bond between a heavy chain (approximately 80–85 kDa) and various light chains (approximately 40 kDa). The heavy chain itself lacks transport activity; instead, it acts as a chaperone that guides amino acid transporter light chains such as LAT1, LAT2, and xCT from the endoplasmic reticulum to the cell membrane, thereby conferring amino acid transport functions such as System L. Beyond amino acid transport, the CD98 heavy chain also directly binds to the cytoplasmic domain of β1 integrin through its intracellular region, amplifying integrin signaling and thereby regulating cell proliferation, survival, and adhesion. In the immune system, CD98 is essential for lymphocyte clonal expansion, and its deficiency significantly impairs adaptive immune responses. CD98 is highly expressed in a variety of tumors, where it promotes tumor progression by sustaining tumor metabolic demands and integrin-dependent anchorage-independent growth, making it a potential target for cancer immunotherapy; antibody drugs and CAR-T cell therapies targeting it are currently under development.