Epithelial plasticity involved the terminal and transitional stages that occur during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET), both are essential at different stages of early embryonic development that have been co-opted by cancer cells to undergo tumor metastasis. These processes are regulated at multiple instances, whereas the post-transcriptional regulation of key genes mediated by microRNAs is gaining major attention as a common and conserved pathway. In this review, we focus on discussing the latest findings of the cellular and molecular basis of the less characterized process of MET during embryonic development, with special attention to the role of microRNAs. Although we take in consideration the necessity of being cautious when extrapolating the obtained evidence, we propose some commonalities between early embryonic development and cancer progression that can shed light into our current understanding of this complex event and might aid in the design of specific therapeutic approaches.
-
Cover Image
Cover Image
In this issue Samantha and colleagues (pp. 1749–1767) provide insights into the underlying mechanism that governs the recognition of myo-inositol by TNYR SaPLD. The image shows an overlay of the loop conformations of four different structures. The unliganded TNYR structure is coloured magenta, in teal is the structure of the H168A mutant bound to PA, in green is the WT unliganded structure and in grey is the TNYR structure bound to phosphate. Image courtesy of Alice Vrielink.
What we can learn from embryos to understand the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in tumor progression
Yanel Bernardi, Pablo Hernán Strobl-Mazzulla; What we can learn from embryos to understand the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in tumor progression. Biochem J 14 May 2021; 478 (9): 1809–1825. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20210083
Download citation file:
Sign in
Sign in to your personal account
Captcha Validation Error. Please try again.