Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions: the importance of changing cell state in development and disease
Hervé Acloque, … , Marianne Bronner-Fraser, M. Angela Nieto
Hervé Acloque, … , Marianne Bronner-Fraser, M. Angela Nieto
Published June 1, 2009
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2009;119(6):1438-1449. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI38019.
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Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions: the importance of changing cell state in development and disease

Abstract

The events that convert adherent epithelial cells into individual migratory cells that can invade the extracellular matrix are known collectively as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Throughout evolution, the capacity of cells to switch between these two cellular states has been fundamental in the generation of complex body patterns. Here, we review the EMT events that build the embryo and further discuss two prototypical processes governed by EMT in amniotes: gastrulation and neural crest formation. Cells undergo EMT to migrate and colonize distant territories. Not surprisingly, this is also the mechanism used by cancer cells to disperse throughout the body.

Authors

Hervé Acloque, Meghan S. Adams, Katherine Fishwick, Marianne Bronner-Fraser, M. Angela Nieto

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Figure 5

EMTs in development and disease.

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EMTs in development and disease. EMTs (cells in green) occur during norm...
EMTs (cells in green) occur during normal embryonic development, such as during neural crest cell delamination from the dorsal neural tube and mesendoderm ingression from the primitive streak. While EMT inducers are usually maintained in a silent state in the adult, they are reactivated during organ fibrosis and at the invasive front of human carcinomas during tumor progression.