Advances in endostatin research

Endostatin, a 20 kD (184 aa) C-teminal fragment of collagenⅩⅧ, is the most potent inhibitor of tumor angiogenesis described so for. Endostatin was initially isolated from a murine hemangioendothelioma cell line (EOMA). Purified recombinant murine endostatin generated in E. coli bacteria injected as unfolded suspension, inhibited the growth of a varity of metastatic and primary tumors in mice. However, its widespread application has been hampered by difficulties in the large-scale production of the antiangiogenic proteins. The limitation may be resolved by in vivo delivery and expression of the antitangiogenic gene. This review summarized the advances in endostain research in recent years including structure, the mechanism of generating, function and therapy.