Department of Hepatobiliary and Splenic Surgery, Sheng Jing Hospital of China Medical University, No.36 Sanhao Street, Heping District, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 29;37(1):203. doi: 10.1186/s13046-018-0887-z.
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a complex process involving multiple genes, steps and stages. It refers to the disruption of tight intercellular junctions among epithelial cells under specific conditions, resulting in loss of the original polarity, order and consistency of the cells. Following EMT, the cells show interstitial cell characteristics with the capacity for adhesion and migration, while apoptosis is inhibited. This process is critically involved in embryogenesis, wound-healing, tumor invasion and metastasis. The tumor microenvironment is composed of infiltrating inflammatory cells, stromal cells and the active medium secreted by interstitial cells. Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have a history of hepatitis virus infection. In such cases, major components of the tumor microenvironment include inflammatory cells, inflammatory factors and virus-encoded protein are major components. Here, we review the relationship between EMT and the inflammatory tumor microenvironment in the context of HCC. We also further elaborate the significant influence of infiltrating inflammatory cells and inflammatory mediators as well as the products expressed by the infecting virus in the tumor microenvironment on the EMT process.
上皮-间充质转化（EMT）是一个涉及多个基因、步骤和阶段的复杂过程。它是指在特定条件下，上皮细胞之间紧密的细胞间连接被破坏，导致细胞原有的极性、有序性和一致性丧失。EMT 后，细胞呈现出具有黏附性和迁移能力的间质细胞特征，同时抑制细胞凋亡。这个过程在胚胎发生、创伤愈合、肿瘤侵袭和转移中起着关键作用。肿瘤微环境由浸润的炎性细胞、基质细胞和间质细胞分泌的活性介质组成。大多数肝细胞癌（HCC）患者有肝炎病毒感染史。在这种情况下，肿瘤微环境的主要成分包括炎性细胞、炎性因子和病毒编码蛋白。在这里，我们综述了 EMT 与 HCC 中炎症肿瘤微环境之间的关系。我们还进一步阐述了浸润性炎性细胞和炎性介质以及感染病毒表达产物在肿瘤微环境中对 EMT 过程的重要影响。
