A complementary role for the tetraspanins CD37 and Tssc6 in the immune system

The co-operative nature of tetraspanin-tetraspanin interactions in membrane organisation\ud suggests that functional overlap is likely to be a factor in tetraspanin biology. CD37 and Tssc6\ud are immune/haematopoietic restricted tetraspanins, whose function has been previously\ud investigated with CD37"7" and TSSC6"7" knockout mice. Both strains display hyper-proliferative T\ud cell responses to in vitro stimulation, suggesting that functional overlap may occur between\ud these two tetraspanin molecules in the immune system. To test this hypothesis, the\ud immunophenotype of a tetraspanin "double knockout' mouse (CDST^Tssce-7") is described