Gracia Francisco, Sanchez-Laorden Berta, Gomez-Sanchez Jose A
Instituto de Neurociencias CSIC-UMH, San Juan de Alicante, 03550, Spain.
Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de Alicante (ISABIAL), Alicante 03010, Spain.
Open Biol. 2025 Mar;15(3):240337. doi: 10.1098/rsob.240337. Epub 2025 Mar 5.
In the peripheral nervous system, glial cells, known as Schwann cells (SCs), are responsible for supporting and maintaining nerves. One of the most important characteristics of SCs is their remarkable plasticity. In various injury contexts, SCs undergo a reprogramming process that generates specialized cells to promote tissue regeneration and repair. However, in pathological conditions, this same plasticity and regenerative potential can be hijacked. Different studies highlight the activation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a driver of SC phenotypic plasticity. Although SCs are not epithelial, their neural crest origin makes EMT activation crucial for their ability to adopt repair phenotypes, mirroring the plasticity observed during development. These adaptive processes are essential for regeneration. However, EMT activation in SCs-derived tumours enhances cancer progression and aggressiveness. Furthermore, in the tumour microenvironment (TME), SCs also acquire activated phenotypes that contribute to tumour migration and invasion by activating EMT in cancer cells. In this review, we will discuss how EMT impacts SC plasticity and function from development and tissue regeneration to pathological conditions, such as cancer.
在周围神经系统中，被称为施万细胞（SCs）的神经胶质细胞负责支持和维持神经。施万细胞最重要的特征之一是其显著的可塑性。在各种损伤情况下，施万细胞会经历一个重编程过程，产生特殊细胞以促进组织再生和修复。然而，在病理条件下，这种相同的可塑性和再生潜能可能会被利用。不同的研究强调上皮-间质转化（EMT）的激活是施万细胞表型可塑性的驱动因素。尽管施万细胞不是上皮细胞，但其神经嵴起源使得EMT的激活对于它们采用修复表型的能力至关重要，这反映了在发育过程中观察到的可塑性。这些适应性过程对再生至关重要。然而，施万细胞来源的肿瘤中EMT的激活会增强癌症进展和侵袭性。此外，在肿瘤微环境（TME）中，施万细胞也会获得激活的表型，通过激活癌细胞中的EMT来促进肿瘤迁移和侵袭。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论EMT如何从发育、组织再生到癌症等病理状况影响施万细胞的可塑性和功能。
