CD39

CD39, also known as ENTPD1 (ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1), is an ectonucleotidase that can hydrolyze purine and pyrimidine nucleoside tri- and di-phosphates to generate monophosphate nucleosides (1). In the nervous system, it can hydrolyze ATP and other nucleotides to regulate purinergic neurotransmission (2). CD39 is known to be a B-cell activation marker that encodes ATPDase, and it has been shown to be expressed on the surface of other activated lymphocytes and quiescent vascular endothelium (3). Moreover, CD39 is implicated in the prevention of platelet aggregation (2). It is expressed primarily on activated lymphoid cells and in endothelial tissues (2).