Abstract

Targeting the endothelial cell cycle as an antiangiogenic strategy has been difficult given the ubiquitous expression of critical cell cycle regulators. Here, we show that the antiangiogenic drug TNP-470 displays striking cell-type specificity insofar as it induces the expression of p21CIP/WAF, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, in endothelial cells but not in embryonic or adult fibroblasts. Moreover, primary endothelial cells isolated from p53−/− and p21CIP/WAF−/− mice are resistant to the cytostatic activity of TNP-470. We also demonstrate that p21CIP/WAF−/− mice are resistant to the antiangiogenic activity of TNP-470 in the basic fibroblast growth factor corneal micropocket angiogenesis assay. We conclude that TNP-470 induces p53 activation through a unique mechanism in endothelial cells leading to p21CIP/WAF expression and subsequent growth arrest.