Interestingly, CD44 appears to be a driver, not simply a marker, of the endothelial to hematopoietic transition, as disruption of hyaluronan binding to CD44, via antibody blockage or inhibition of hyaluronan synthesis, reduces hematopoietic production from HE (Oatley et al., 2020). This evidence concerns the gene CD44 and hereditary elliptocytosis.