TROP-2, also referred to as tumor associated calcium signal transducer 2 (TACSTD2), GA733-1 or M1S1, is a cell surface glycoprotein highly expressed in a wide variety of epithelial cancers. In contrast, there is little or no expression of Trop-2 in adult somatic tissue. Because it is a cell surface protein that is selectively expressed in tumor cells, Trop-2 is a potential therapeutic target. The cytoplasmic tail of Trop-2 possesses potential serine and tyrosine phosphorylation sites and a phosphatidyl-inositol binding consensus sequence. Trop-2 transduces an intracellular calcium signal, are consistent with the hypothesis that it acts as a cell surface receptor and support a search for a physiological ligand. TROP2 encoding by an intronless gene was originally defined by the monoclonal antibody GA733, and is a member of a family of at least two type I membrane proteins. The other known member is GA733-2, also called EpCAM and TROP1. It has been suggested by studies that the GA733-1 gene was formed by the retroposition of the GA733-2 gene via an mRNA intermediate.
