CD36

CD36 (cluster of differentiation 36), also known as platelet glycoprotein 4, fatty acid translocase (FAT), scavenger receptor class B member 3 (SCARB3), and glycoproteins 88 (GP88), IIIb (GPIIIB), or IV (GPIV) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CD36 gene. The CD36 antigen is an integral membrane protein found on the surface of many cell types in vertebrate animals. It imports fatty acids inside cells and is a member of the class B scavenger receptor family of cell surface proteins. CD36 binds many ligands including collagen, thrombospondin, erythrocytes parasitized with Plasmodium falciparum, oxidized low density lipoprotein, native lipoproteins, oxidized phospholipids, and long-chain fatty acids. Work in genetically modified rodents suggest a role for CD36 in fatty acid metabolism, heart disease, taste, and dietary fat processing in the intestine. It may be involved in glucose intolerance, atherosclerosis, arterial hypertension, diabetes, cardiomyopathy, Alzheimer's disease and various cancers, mostly of epithelial origin (breast, prostate, ovary, and colon) and also for hepatic carcinoma and gliomas. In humans, rats and mice, CD36 consists of 472 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of approximately 53,000 Da. However, CD36 is extensively glycosylated and has an apparent molecular weight of 88,000 Da as determined by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Using Kyte-Doolittle analysis, the amino acid sequence of CD36 predicts a hydrophobic region near each end of the protein large enough to span cellular membranes. Based on this notion and the observation that CD36 is found on the surface of cells, CD36 is thought to have a 'hairpin-like' structure with α-helices at the C- and N- termini projecting through the membrane and a larger extracellular loop (Fig. 1). This topology is supported by transfection experiments in cultured cells using deletion mutants of CD36. Based on the crystal structure of the homologous SCARB2, a model of the extracellular domain of CD36 has been produced.