PDGFRA is a tyrosine-protein kinase that acts as a cell-surface receptor for PDGFA, PDGFB and PDGFC and plays an essential role in the regulation of embryonic development, cell proliferation, survival, cell migration, chemotaxis in wound healing, and platelet activation and aggregation. Depending on the context, it promotes or inhibits cell proliferation and cell migration. It plays an important role in the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and is required for normal skeleton development, the development of the mucosa lining the gastrointestinal tract, and for recruitment of mesenchymal cells and the normal development of intestinal villi. In cancer, PDGFRA is overexpressed in gliomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), and ovarian, prostate, colon, lung, breast, bone and skin cancers. PDGFRA expression in ovarian cancer and chondrosarcoma is associated with shorter survival. In immunohistochemistry of normal tissue, PDGFRA is widely expressed throughout the body. References: J Cell Physiol. 1994 Feb; 158(2):381-9, PMID: 8106574; J Histochem Cytochem. 2016 Dec; 64(12): 785–810, PMID: 27837159; Am J Surg Pathol 2001;25:1520; Sci Rep. 2015 Dec 7;5:17948, PMID: 26639755