What is "tetherin"

n. (context biology English) Any protein-based tether that causes retention of virions on infected cell surfaces.

Tetherin, also known as ' bone marrow stromal antigen 2', is a lipid raft associated protein that in humans is encoded by the BST2 gene. In addition, tetherin has been designated as CD317 ( cluster of differentiation 317). This protein is constitutively expressed in mature B cells, plasma cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and in many other cells, it is only expressed as a response to stimuli from IFN pathway.