Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transitions in development and disease: old views and new perspectives
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transitions in development and disease: old views and new perspectives
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DOI：
10.1387/ijdb.072410mn
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
0.7
通讯作者：
Angela Nieto, M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Angela Nieto, M.
上皮细胞向间充质细胞转化（EMT）是一种有趣的表型变化，分别由胚胎细胞和成体细胞在生理和病理条件下进行。细胞行为的这种变化涉及上皮特性的丧失和迁移特性的获得。虽然它早已被确立为许多不同胚胎组织生成的基本过程，但其在肿瘤进展过程中作为转移级联反应中的初始决定步骤的重要性仍然存在争议。最近的分子分析加上最先进的成像技术，有助于将EMT定义为一个重要的里程碑，不仅在肿瘤进展过程中，而且在其他病理如器官纤维化的发展过程中。西班牙的研究小组从发育和病理的角度对EMT的分析做出了贡献，特别是评估了蜗牛基因在这一过程中的作用。有趣的是，西班牙科学家对肿瘤中EMT存在的贡献可能可以追溯到100多年前，当时Cajal在他对人类乳腺癌的描述中提到了一些“梨状细胞，彼此不附着”。
The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a fascinating phenotypic change that is undertaken by embryonic and adult cells in physiological and pathological conditions, respectively. This change in cell behavior involves the loss of epithelial characteristics and the acquisition of migratory properties. While it has long been established as a fundamental process in the generation of many different embryonic tissues, its significance during tumor progression as an initial determining step in the metastatic cascade has remained a matter of debate. Recent molecular analyses coupled with state-of-the-art imaging technology have helped to define the EMT as an important landmark, not only during tumor progression, but also during the development of other pathologies such as organ fibrosis. Spanish groups have contributed to the analysis of EMT both from the developmental and the pathological point of view, in particular assessing the implication of the Snail genes in this process. Interestingly, the contribution of Spanish scientists to the existence of EMT in tumors possibly goes back more than 100 years, when Cajal referred to some "pear-like cells, not attached to each other" in his description of human breast carcinomas.