Epithelial-mesenchymal transition in gastroenterological cancer

Abstract

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was first reported as an essential process in embryonic cells and later showed that cancer cells, regardless of the context, exhibit a similar phenomenonthat is crucial for tumor progression. Epithelial cells lose their adhesive characteristic capacity which is necessary for their functions but gain a mesenchymal phenotype. This change from epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype of cancer cells makes it difficult tounderstand the mechanism underlying cancer biology and tumor progression. A number of transcription factors involved in tumor cell EMT and miRNA-regulated EMT have been reported. This review discussed recent findings and new players in EMT in gastrointestinal cancers. Since the molecular mechanisms of tumor progression are sometimes context dependent, the recent findings of EMT have been reviewed in the context-dependent manner.

Keywords

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition / gastrointestinal cancer / microRNA / transcription factor

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