CDH5 and cancer: Two of the first proteins identified as central players in VM are VE-cadherin, a cell–cell adhesion molecule expressed by ECs allowing adherent junction formation [141], and EphA2, an epithelial cell receptor tyrosine kinase involved in EphA1-induced angiogenesis and found upregulated in a wide variety of cancers, whose expression has been linked to increased malignancy and a poor clinical prognosis [142].