CHMP6 (Charged Multivesicular Body Protein 6) is a critical component of the ESCRT-III (Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport III) complex, which plays essential roles in membrane remodeling processes, including multivesicular body formation, cytokinesis, viral budding, and membrane repair. As a small, highly charged protein, CHMP6 participates in assembling and stabilizing the ESCRT-III polymer network, often working in concert with regulatory ATPases like VPS4 to mediate membrane scission. Dysregulation of CHMP6 has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and viral pathogenesis, making it a target for mechanistic and therapeutic studies.
CHMP6 antibodies are immunological tools designed to detect and quantify CHMP6 expression in cells or tissues. They are widely used in research applications such as Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and immunoprecipitation to investigate CHMP6's localization, interactions, and functional dynamics. Given the conserved nature of ESCRT-III components, CHMP6 antibodies often exhibit cross-reactivity across species, including human, mouse, and rat. Some antibodies specifically target post-translational modifications or conformational states of CHMP6 to study its activation during ESCRT-mediated processes. Recent studies have also employed CHMP6 antibodies to explore its role in pathological contexts, such as its accumulation in cytoplasmic aggregates in neurodegenerative disorders like ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Validation of these antibodies typically involves knockout controls and functional assays to ensure specificity, as ESCRT-III paralogs share structural similarities.