VEGFA and neoplasm: Our demonstration that the α6β1 integrin functions in concert with NRP2 to drive autocrine VEGF signalling is significant because this integrin has been implicated in the function of tumour stem cells (Lathia et al, 2010) and high α6 expression characterizes tumour initiating populations (Friedrichs et al, 1995; Honeth et al, 2008; Lathia et al, 2010; Mulholland et al, 2009; Schober & Fuchs, 2011; Vieira et al, 2012).