Infectious Agents Associated Cancers Epidemiology and Molecular Biology

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the doppel/VEGFR2 axis by an orally active glycosaminoglycan (LHbisD4) specifi-

cally represses tumor angiogenesis, thus reducing tumor growth [ 89 ].

Although PrP has been shown to contribute to tumorigenesis at cellular level, a

mouse model to prove PrP attributing to tumorigenesis has yet to be reported.

Another important question that remains unanswered is whether aberrant expres-

sion of PrP can cause cancer and, if so, why. Since PrP is an endogenous expressing

protein in many tissues, it is difficult to imagine that PrP expression can result in

cancer. However, considering that the expression of PrP may favor pro- inflammation

response, the possibility that PrP causes cancer cannot be totally excluded. Finally,

since PrP is a protein prone to aggregation and conformational altered PrP may lead

to neurodegeneration, overexpressed PrP in tumor cells may be a cause for future

problem for patients.

Acknowledgments This work was supported by National Science Foundation of China
(31670170), by Nature Science Foundation of Hubei Province (2015CFA087), and by State Key
Laboratory of Virology (2015IOV005).

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13 Prion Protein Exacerbates Tumorigenesis