Galactosylgalactosylxylosylprotein 3-beta-glucuronosyltransferase 1 (B3GAT1) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the B3GAT1 gene, whose enzymatic activity creates the CD57 epitope on other cell surface proteins. In immunology, the CD57 antigen (CD stands for cluster of differentiation) is also known as HNK1 (human natural killer-1) or LEU7. It is expressed as a carbohydrate epitope that contains a sulfoglucuronyl residue in several adhesion molecules of the nervous system. The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the glucuronyltransferase gene family. These enzymes exhibit strict acceptor specificity, recognizing nonreducing terminal sugars and their anomeric linkages. This gene product functions as the key enzyme in a glucuronyl transfer reaction during the biosynthesis of the carbohydrate epitope HNK-1 (human natural killer-1, also known as CD57 and LEU7). Alternate transcriptional splice variants have been characterized. In anatomical pathology, CD57 (immunostaining) is similar to CD56 for use in differentiating neuroendocrine tumors from others. There is an increase in the number of circulating CD57 positive cells in the blood of patients who have recently undergone organ or tissue transplants, especially of the bone marrow, and in patients with HIV.