Madany Mecca, Thomas Tom, Edwards Lincoln A
Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Pathology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA.
Discoveries (Craiova). 2018 Dec 31;6(4):e86. doi: 10.15190/d.2018.7.
The Zinc Finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB1/TCF8 or DeltaEF1) is at the forefront of transcription factors involved in controlling epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMT). Essentially, EMT allows for the reorganization of epithelial cells to become migratory cells with a mesenchymal phenotype. In addition to ZEB1 being involved in embryonic development, ZEB1 has also been linked to processes involving micro-RNAs, long non-coding RNAs and stem cells. In recent years there has been an accumulation of evidence with regard to ZEB1 in various cancers. Although increased ZEB1 expression has largely been associated with EMT, cancer invasion, and tumorigenicity, there have been some episodic reports that have gone against the traditional reporting of the role of ZEB1. Indicating that the function of ZEB1 and the mechanisms by which ZEB1 facilitates its activities is more complex than was once appreciated. This complexity is further exacerbated by the notion that ZEB1 can act not only as a transcriptional repressor but a transcriptional activator as well. This review seeks to shed light on the complexity of ZEB1 with respect to cancer.
锌指E盒结合同源框蛋白（ZEB1/TCF8或DeltaEF1）处于参与控制上皮-间质转化（EMT）的转录因子的前沿。本质上，EMT使上皮细胞重新组织成为具有间质表型的迁移细胞。除了参与胚胎发育外，ZEB1还与涉及微小RNA、长链非编码RNA和干细胞的过程有关。近年来，关于ZEB1在各种癌症中的证据不断积累。尽管ZEB1表达增加在很大程度上与EMT、癌症侵袭和肿瘤发生有关，但也有一些偶发报告与ZEB1作用的传统报道相悖。这表明ZEB1的功能及其促进其活性的机制比以往认为的更为复杂。ZEB1不仅可以作为转录抑制因子，还可以作为转录激活因子，这一观点进一步加剧了这种复杂性。本综述旨在阐明ZEB1在癌症方面的复杂性。
