Anti-fukutin Antibody

Raised in rabbit against the human fukutin (FKTN) protein, this unconjugated polyclonal antibody from Antibodies.com targets a Golgi-resident glycosyltransferase required for proper O-linked mannosyl glycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan in skeletal muscle, brain, and other tissues. Loss-of-function mutations in FKTN underlie Fukuyama congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD), a founder-mutation disorder originally attributed to a 3 kb retrotransposon insertion in the 3' UTR of the gene, and additional FKTN variants have been linked to Walker-Warburg syndrome and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2M (LGMD2M).

Researchers studying dystroglycanopathy biology, congenital muscular dystrophies, and basement-membrane integrity use this reagent to characterize fukutin expression and subcellular localization in patient-derived fibroblasts, myogenic cell lines, knockout models, and heterologous expression systems. Supplied as 100 µl of unconjugated antiserum, the reagent is validated for Western blot (WB) and immunofluorescence (IF) applications on human samples, with the unconjugated format giving laboratories flexibility to conjugate it to fluorophores, biotin, or enzymes for downstream detection. Polyclonal rabbit antibodies targeting fukutin are particularly useful for detecting endogenous protein in cell and tissue lysates because they recognize multiple epitopes, which helps preserve signal when a single epitope is masked by a disease-associated mutation.

Common experimental workflows include WB analysis of patient fibroblasts or differentiating myotubes to monitor fukutin protein levels alongside core glycosylation markers such as alpha-dystroglycan, and IF staining of cultured cells or cryosections to evaluate Golgi co-localization and dystroglycan maturation at the plasma membrane. Because fukutin function is tightly coupled to dystroglycan glycosylation, this reagent is commonly paired with the IIH6 and VIA4-1 monoclonal antibodies that recognize the matriglycan epitope on alpha-dystroglycan. Storage at -20 °C in working aliquots is recommended to limit freeze-thaw cycles and preserve binding activity for repeat experiments. For research use only.