Moreover, antibody-mediated blocking of integrin ligand VCAM-1 in endothelial cells had no effect on the adhesion of CD98-deficient cKit+ leukemia cells, while it significantly reduced the attachment of wild-type cKit+ cells, suggesting that CD98 is required for VCAM-1/integrinVLA-4-mediated interactions between leukemia cells and blood vessels [77]. The gene discussed is KIT; the disease is leukemia.