Abstract 2181 Disrupting Pathological Angiogenesis: The Role of the ANTXR2/CMG2 Cytosolic Tail Modifications in PA-Induced Inhibition of Endothelial Cell Chemotaxis

Pathological angiogenesis is a key feature of various diseases, including cancer, endometriosis, and corneal neovascularization. Current anti-angiogenic therapies targeting VEGF/VEGFR signaling have limited effectiveness due to VEGF-independentangiogenesis pathways. This low efficacy highlights the urgent need for novel, more comprehensive therapeutic targets. Previous work from our lab has shown that treating animals with anthrax protective antigen (PA) inhibits growth factor-induced angiogenesis in a corneal neovascularization mouse model by disrupting ANTXR2/CMG2-mediated chemotaxis while largely sparing chemokinesis, positioning CMG2 as a promising therapeutic target.