Clusters of differentiation (CDs) are a system for identifying cellular surface markers, a number of which define lymphocyte subsets (see , Lymphocytes). The system and its nomenclature were formalized in a 1982 international workshop. Originally CD terms specified the monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that clustered statistically in their reactivities to target cells. More recently, the CD terms apply to the cellular molecules themselves. The CDs, which now number more than 200 (and may eventually number in the thousands), are defined at the Human Cell Differentiation Molecules workshops (formerly Human Leukocyte Differentiation Antigen Workshops). Workshops involve “multiple laboratories examining coded panels of ...
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