Nature Communications (May 2022)

Extracellular vimentin mimics VEGF and is a target for anti-angiogenic immunotherapy

  • Judy R. van Beijnum,
  • Elisabeth J. M. Huijbers,
  • Karlijn van Loon,
  • Athanasios Blanas,
  • Parvin Akbari,
  • Arno Roos,
  • Tse J. Wong,
  • Stepan S. Denisov,
  • Tilman M. Hackeng,
  • Connie R. Jimenez,
  • Patrycja Nowak-Sliwinska,
  • Arjan W. Griffioen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30063-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 20

Abstract

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The pro-tumorigenic effects of vimentin have been attributed to intracellular functions in tumour cells so far. Here, the authors show that tumour endothelial cells can secrete vimentin as a pro-angiogenic factor and that targeting of vimentin can be used as an immunotherapeutic strategy.