Assignment of the CD163 antigen (CD163) to mouse chromosome 6 band F2 by radiation hybrid mapping.

The CD163 antigen is a member of the scavenger receptor cysteine rich (SRCR) protein family (Law et al., 1993). It is a type I membrane glycoprotein and has recently been identified as the macrophage receptor for hemoglobin-haptoglobin (HbHp) complexes (Kristiansen et al., 2001). By mediating the clearance of free hemoglobin the receptor may have a central role in hemoglobin and iron metabolism. Furthermore, efficient uptake and thus detoxification of hemoglobin may be a crucial step in the wound healing process and during the resolving phase of acute inflammatory reactions. The macrophage restricted molecule is functionally induced by glucocorticoids (Schaer et al., 2002), suggesting anti-inflammatory properties of CD163. To further characterize the biological significance of CD163 in vivo, we have recently reported the cloning and molecular characterization of the mouse CD163 homologue (Schaer et al., 2001).