Anna Grimaldi, Maria Luisa Balestrieri, Nunzia D'Onofrio, Gilda Di Domenico, Cosimo Nocera, Monica Lamberti, Giuseppe Tonini, Alice Zoccoli, Daniele Santini, Michele Caraglia, Francesco Pantano
Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs), a minor subpopulation of the mononuclear cell fraction in peripheral blood, play a critical role in cancer development as they contribute to angiogenesis-mediated pathological neovascularization. In response to tumor cytokines, including VEGF, EPCs mobilize from the bone marrow into the peripheral circulation and move to the tumor bed where they incorporate into sprouting neovessels. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of everolimus (Afinitor, Novartis), a rapamycin analogue, alone or in combination with chloroquine, a 4-alkylamino substituted quinoline family member, one of the autophagy inhibitors, on EPCs biological functions...
2013: PloS One