Integrin Alpha D (ITGaD)

Three ITGs that share the beta-2 (CD18) subunit are restricted in expression to leukocytes and have homologous alpha subunits: alpha-L (ITGAL), alpha-M (ITGAM), and alpha-X (ITGAX). Wong designed degenerate PCR primers to identify novel leukocyte integrin alpha subunits. In this way they isolated a partial genomic clone encoding a new alpha subunit, designated ITGAD.

The ITGAD gene was found to be highly homologous to the 3 previously known alpha-subunit-encoding genes in deduced amino acid sequence, intron/exon structure, and chromosomal location. The ITGAD gene localize to 16p11.2.