Department of Hematology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
J Cell Physiol. 2017 Dec;232(12):3261-3272. doi: 10.1002/jcp.25797. Epub 2017 Apr 10.
The lineage transition between epithelium and mesenchyme is a process known as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), by which polarized epithelial cells lose their adhesion property and obtain mesenchymal cell phenotypes. EMT is a biological process that is often involved in embryogenesis and diseases, such as cancer invasion and metastasis. The EMT and the reverse process, mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), also play important roles in stem cell differentiation and de-differentiation (or reprogramming). In this review, we will discuss current research progress of EMT in embryonic development, cellular differentiation and reprogramming, and cancer progression, all of which are representative models for researches of stem cell biology in normal and in diseases. Understanding of EMT and MET may help to identify specific markers to distinguish normal stem cells from cancer stem cells in future.
上皮细胞和间充质之间的谱系转变是一个被称为上皮-间充质转化(EMT)的过程,在此过程中,极化的上皮细胞失去其黏附特性并获得间充质细胞表型。EMT 是一个经常涉及胚胎发生和疾病的生物学过程,例如癌症的侵袭和转移。EMT 和相反的过程,间充质-上皮转化(MET),也在干细胞分化和去分化(或重编程)中发挥重要作用。在这篇综述中,我们将讨论 EMT 在胚胎发育、细胞分化和重编程以及癌症进展中的研究进展,这些都是正常和疾病状态下干细胞生物学研究的代表性模型。对 EMT 和 MET 的理解可能有助于在未来识别特定标记物,以区分正常干细胞和癌症干细胞。