Background

Endocan also known as endothelial cell-specific molecule (ESM-1) was originally discovered by Lassalle and colla-borators in endothelial cells (Lassalle et al. 1996). Structurally, endocan is a dermatan sulfate proteoglycan of 50 kDa that is freely circulating in blood (Bechard et al. 2001a; Sarrazin et al. 2010b). Endocan binds CD11a/CD18 integrin (also called LFA-1 for Leukocyte Function-associated Antigen-1) on human leukocytes inhibiting consequently its binding to ICAM-1 (Bechard et al. 2001b). The expression of endocan / ESM-1 is upregulated by pro-inflammatory molecules such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa), lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and also pro-angiogenic molecules such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) (Grigoriu et al. 2006; Sarrazin et al. 2006; Maurage et al. 2009 ; Leroy et al. 2010 ; Sarrazin et al. 2010a). Endocan / ESM-1 binds via its dermatan sulfate chain to hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) (Bechard et al. 2001a ; Sarrazin et al. 2010a). Recently endocan / ESM-1 was identified as a biomarker of tip cells (Strasser et al. 2010 ; Del Toro et al. 2010). Elevated blood levels of endocan / ESM-1 has been reported in patients with lung and kidney cancers as well as in patients with severe sepsis (Bechard et al. 2001b; Scherpereel et al. 2003; Grigoriu et al. 2006; Scherpereel et al. 2006 ; Leroy et al. 2010). Endocan is a biomarker of activated endothelium (Sarrazin et al. 2010b).

Main features

1. Dermatan sulfate chain / chondroitin sulfate B
2. Issued from affinity-purifed recombinant endocan / ESM-1
3. Contains the Ido pattern responsible for growth factor binding / activities

This product is "for research use only and are not intended for diagnostic or therapeutic use".

References

Bechard et al. (2000) J. Vasc. Res. 37:417-425 (Pubmed)
Grigoriu et al. (2006) Clin. Cancer Res. 12:4575-4582 (Pubmed)
Maurage et al. (2009) Exp. Neurol. 68:836-844 (Pubmed)
Leroy et al. (2010) Histopathology 56:180-187 (Pubmed)
Sarrazin et al. (2010) J. Canc. Sci. Ther. 2:47-52 (pdf)

Sarrazin et al. (2010b) Glycobiology 20:1380-1388 (Pubmed)