Ig-alpha/CD79a

Ig-alpha (CD79a, MB-1) is the heavier of the two disulfide-linked chains of the B-cell receptor signaling complex. It contains one extracellular Ig-like domain that contacts the immunoglobulin heavy chain, and a cytoplasmic tail with a single ITAM that, once phosphorylated by Lyn and related Src kinases, initiates the Syk-BLNK cascade. Together with Ig-beta it is indispensable for surface immunoglobulin assembly, and germline CD79A mutations cause agammaglobulinemia with absent B cells. As a pan-B-cell antigen retained in many neoplasms, CD79a is the standard immunohistochemistry marker of B-cell lineage, and the CD79b-directed conjugate polatuzumab vedotin exploits the same complex clinically.