Signal Regulatory Protein Alpha (SIRPa)

Signal-regulatory protein alpha is a member of the signal-regulatory-protein (SIRP) family, and also belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily. SIRP family members are receptor-type transmembrane glycoproteins known to be involved in the negative regulation of receptor tyrosine kinase-coupled signaling processes. This protein can be phosphorylated by tyrosine kinases. The phospho-tyrosine residues of this PTP have been shown to recruit SH2 domain containing tyrosine phosphatases (PTP), and serve as substrates of PTPs. This protein was found to participate in signal transduction mediated by various growth factor receptors. CD47 has been demonstrated to be a ligand for this receptor protein. This gene and its product share very high similarity with several other members of the SIRP family.