EDA/Ectodysplasin: Products

Ectodysplasin (EDA) is a type II transmembrane protein belonging to the TNF superfamily. It can be expressed as eight alternatively spliced isoforms that are encoded by the EDA gene. Isoforms of EDA are expressed in cells of ectodermal origin, where they are localized to the cell surface and can be released in a soluble form following cleavage by Furin. The EDA-A1 and EDA-A2 splice variants differ by the deletion of two amino acids in the extracellular domain of EDA-A2. Despite this minor difference, EDA-A1 and EDA-A2 display strong receptor specificity. EDA-A1 binds to EDAR, whereas EDA-A2 binds to XEDAR. EDA-A1 and EDA-A2 are required during development, and loss or mutation of EDA results in abnormal development of hair follicles, sweat glands, and teeth. Mutations in the EDA gene are associated with a group of developmental disorders identified as ectodermal dysplasia type 1.