Description: The BV14 monoclonal antibody reacts with mouse VE-Cadherin (CD144). VE-Cadherin is a 120 kDa member of the type II Cadherin family, characterized by the presence of 5 extracellular cadherin domains (ECD), and anchored to the actin cytoskeleton through their cytoplasmic tail. VE-Cadherin mediates homophilic adhesion between neighbouring endothelial cells and is localized within specialized structures at cell-cell contacts, called adherens junctions. VE-Cadherin is expressed constitutively throughout the entire vasculature, and is required for numerous endothelial cell functions including migration, survival, contact-dependent growth inhibition and endothelial cell assembly into tubular structures. Furthermore, it is thought that VE-Cadherin+CD45- cells from the yolk sac or aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM)+ have the potential to give rise to hematopoietic cells. Cross-blocking experiments suggest that BV14 recognizes a different epitope than another mouse VE-Cadherin monoclonal antibody, BV13.