CD5

CD5 is a lymphocyte surface protein of the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) superfamily, carrying three extracellular SRCR domains on a single transmembrane segment. Expressed on all T cells and on the B-1a subset, CD5 modulates antigen receptor signaling and generally dampens activation; its cytoplasmic tail lacks intrinsic enzymatic motifs but recruits inhibitory regulators. Its best-defined ligand is CD72 on B cells. In clinical immunophenotyping, aberrant strong CD5 expression on mature B cells is a hallmark of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mantle cell lymphoma, whereas normal mature B cells are negative. CD5 has also been pursued as a target for CAR-T and antibody therapy in T cell malignancies.