PDGFRB is a tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for homodimeric PDGFB and PDGFD and for heterodimers formed by PDGFA and PDGFB, and plays an essential role in the regulation of embryonic development, cell proliferation, survival, differentiation, angiogenesis, chemotaxis and migration. PDGFRB is essential for blood vessel development and promotes proliferation, migration and recruitment of pericytes and smooth muscle cells to endothelial cells. PDGFRB is a useful marker in immunohistochemistry for distinguishing various cancers. It can be used to identify the sarcomatoid subtype of non-small cell lung cancer, where it has been found to be highly overexpressed. In prostate cancer, high stromal expression of PDGFRB is associated with relapse and shorter survival. In immunohistochemistry of normal tissue, PDGFRB is highly expressed in endothelial cells, decidual cells, fibroblasts and connective tissues. References: Clin Lung Cancer. 2011 Nov;12(6):369-74, PMID: 21729646; Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 24;7:43378