CD68, which is homologous to the mouse antigen macrosialin, belongs to a family of acidic, highly glycosylated lysosomal glycoproteins (LGPs) that includes lamp-1 and lamp-2. It is highly expressed by human monocytes and tissue macrophages. It is a type I integral membrane protein with a heavily glycosylated extracellular domain and binds to tissue- and organ-specific lectins or selectins.CD68 is found in cytoplasmic granules and in the cytoplasm of various non-hematopoietic tissues including liver and kidney tubules and glomeruli. CD68 is also found, to a lesser extent, on the surface of macrophages, monocytes, neutrophils, basophils and large lymphocytes.
