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Commentary
Nature Medicine 8, 918 - 921 (2002)
doi:10.1038/nm0902-918
A reevaluation of integrins as regulators of angiogenesis
Richard O. Hynes1
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA e-mail: rohynes@mit.edu
Abstract
Pharmacological agents directed against the integrins 
v
3 and v5 have been reported to inhibit angiogenesis. However, genetic ablations of the genes encoding these integrins fail to block angiogenesis and in some cases even enhance it. This apparent paradox suggests the hypotheses that these integrins are negative regulators of angiogenesis and that the drugs targeting them may be acting as agonists rather than antagonists.
Integrins are cell surface receptors mediating adhesion to the extracellular matrix or, in some cases, to adjacent cells1, 2, 3. Although we know that many integrins and integrin ligands function in angiogenesis4, 5, 6, their exact actions remain unclear.
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