CD44: Target for antiangiogenesis therapy

Abstract

In this issue of Blood, Tremmel and colleagues provide evidence that endothelial cells express a specific splice variant of the CD44 protein family, CD44v6, that constitutively associates with VEGFR-2 to regulate receptor activation and downstream receptor signaling. Significantly, the targeting of CD44v6 inhibited VEGFdependent in vitro endothelial cell function as well as in vivo tumor growth and angiogenesis.