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      New insights into the mechanisms of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and implications for cancer.

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          Abstract

          Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular programme that is known to be crucial for embryogenesis, wound healing and malignant progression. During EMT, cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions are remodelled, which leads to the detachment of epithelial cells from each other and the underlying basement membrane, and a new transcriptional programme is activated to promote the mesenchymal fate. In the context of neoplasias, EMT confers on cancer cells increased tumour-initiating and metastatic potential and a greater resistance to elimination by several therapeutic regimens. In this Review, we discuss recent findings on the mechanisms and roles of EMT in normal and neoplastic tissues, and the cell-intrinsic signals that sustain expression of this programme. We also highlight how EMT gives rise to a variety of intermediate cell states between the epithelial and the mesenchymal state, which could function as cancer stem cells. In addition, we describe the contributions of the tumour microenvironment in inducing EMT and the effects of EMT on the immunobiology of carcinomas.

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          Most cited references121

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          Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in development and disease.

          The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays crucial roles in the formation of the body plan and in the differentiation of multiple tissues and organs. EMT also contributes to tissue repair, but it can adversely cause organ fibrosis and promote carcinoma progression through a variety of mechanisms. EMT endows cells with migratory and invasive properties, induces stem cell properties, prevents apoptosis and senescence, and contributes to immunosuppression. Thus, the mesenchymal state is associated with the capacity of cells to migrate to distant organs and maintain stemness, allowing their subsequent differentiation into multiple cell types during development and the initiation of metastasis.
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            Wnt signalling and its impact on development and cancer.

            The Wnt signalling pathway is an ancient system that has been highly conserved during evolution. It has a crucial role in the embryonic development of all animal species, in the regeneration of tissues in adult organisms and in many other processes. Mutations or deregulated expression of components of the Wnt pathway can induce disease, most importantly cancer. The first gene to be identified that encodes a Wnt signalling component, Int1 (integration 1), was molecularly characterized from mouse tumour cells 25 years ago. In parallel, the homologous gene Wingless in Drosophila melanogaster, which produces developmental defects in embryos, was characterized. Since then, further components of the Wnt pathway have been identified and their epistatic relationships have been defined. This article is a Timeline of crucial discoveries about the components and functions of this essential pathway.
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              Autocrine TGF-beta and stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) signaling drives the evolution of tumor-promoting mammary stromal myofibroblasts.

              Much interest is currently focused on the emerging role of tumor-stroma interactions essential for supporting tumor progression. Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), frequently present in the stroma of human breast carcinomas, include a large number of myofibroblasts, a hallmark of activated fibroblasts. These fibroblasts have an ability to substantially promote tumorigenesis. However, the precise cellular origins of CAFs and the molecular mechanisms by which these cells evolve into tumor-promoting myofibroblasts remain unclear. Using a coimplantation breast tumor xenograft model, we show that resident human mammary fibroblasts progressively convert into CAF myofibroblasts during the course of tumor progression. These cells increasingly acquire two autocrine signaling loops, mediated by TGF-β and SDF-1 cytokines, which both act in autostimulatory and cross-communicating fashions. These autocrine-signaling loops initiate and maintain the differentiation of fibroblasts into myofibroblasts and the concurrent tumor-promoting phenotype. Collectively, these findings indicate that the establishment of the self-sustaining TGF-β and SDF-1 autocrine signaling gives rise to tumor-promoting CAF myofibroblasts during tumor progression. This autocrine-signaling mechanism may prove to be an attractive therapeutic target to block the evolution of tumor-promoting CAFs.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol.
                Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology
                Springer Science and Business Media LLC
                1471-0080
                1471-0072
                February 2019
                : 20
                : 2
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA.
                [2 ] Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA. weinberg@wi.mit.edu.
                [3 ] MIT Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology, Cambridge, MA, USA. weinberg@wi.mit.edu.
                [4 ] Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. weinberg@wi.mit.edu.
                Article
                10.1038/s41580-018-0080-4
                10.1038/s41580-018-0080-4
                30459476
                3af566e3-7440-4fac-910a-cb430dfbe7c6
                History

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