CD44 and Huntington disease: Instead, these observations suggest that although hMSC in HD cultures did not rely on N-cadherin-mediated interactions for viability; and moreover, as viability did not depend strongly on interactions with HA (mediated through CD44) nor many integrin-mediated interactions with a secreted PCM, they suggest that hMSC in HD cultures were either not as susceptible to anoikis as LD cultures or that they relied on alternative interactions to prevent it.