Human ICOS Antibody

Inducible costimulator (ICOS), also called AILIM (activiation-inducible lymphocyte immunomediatory molecule) and CRP-1 (CD28-related protein-1), is a member of the growing CD28 family of immune costimulatory receptors. Other family members are CD28, CTLA-4, and PD-1. Human ICOS is a homodimeric type I transmembrane protein consisting of 199 amino acids (aa) with a putative 20 aa signal sequence, a 121 aa extracellular domain, a 23 aa transmembrane region, and a 35 aa cytoplasmic domain. ICOS shares approximately 39% amino acid similarity with CD28 and CTLA-4. Human and mouse ICOS share approximately 72% amino acid identity. ICOS is expressed on most CD45RO⁺ cells. ICOS expression is up-regulated within approximately 24-48 hours of activation on T_h primed cells. B7-H2, a member of the B7 family of costimulatory ligands, has been identified as the ICOS ligand. The B7-H2/ICOS interaction appears to play roles in T cell dependent B cell activation and T_h differentiation.