Cytokeratin 18 Recombinant Rabbit Monoclonal Antibody

Cytokeratin 18 (also named keratin 18) is a type I cytokeratin. It is, together with its filament partner keratin 8, perhaps the most commonly found products of the intermediate filament gene family.

In some epithelial cell types, keratin 8 and keratin 18 are the sole keratins present. The classical example is the liver, with keratin 8/keratin 18 representing the characteristic and only keratin pair of normal hepatocytes. The same is true for other highly specialized parenchymatous epithelia such as acinar cells of the pancreas, proximal tubular epithelial cells of the kidney, and certain endocrine cells such as pancreatic islet cells. Furthermore, keratin 8/keratin 18 occur together with other keratins—in various pseudostratified (e.g. respiratory) and complex (e.g. glandular) epithelia and in the urothelium; in these composite epithelial tissues, keratin 8 and keratin18 are often most prominent in the lumen-lining cells. Even in non-keratinizing stratified squamous epithelia, keratin 8 and keratin 18 may be focally expressed in the basal cell layer, together with keratin 19 and the constitutive stratified-epithelial keratins.

In regard to malignant tumors, keratin 8 and keratin 18 are expressed in most carcinomas except for some differentiated squamous cell carcinomas. Therefore, keratin 8 and keratin 18 antibody strongly stain most adenocarcinomas, hepatocellular carcinomas, renal cell carcinomas, and neuroendocrine carcinomas.