Beta2Microglobulin — Small Molecule — Big Role?

Abstract

Beta₂ microglobulin (β2m) as isolated and characterized from human urine by Berggård and Beam in 1968.¹ Though initially of interest largely as an index of renal tubular function, β2m has attracted widespread attention in recent years as a result of the realization that it is an integral component of a number of proteins involved in cell-cell recognition that are coded by a series of closely linked autosomal genes. Since the transplantation antigens are included in this group, β2m is present in the membranes of virtually all cells in every species studied to date.^{2 3 4} β2m is a protein of molecular . . .