The epithelial-mesenchymal transition generates cells with properties of stem cells
- PMID: 18485877
- PMCID: PMC2728032
- DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.03.027
The epithelial-mesenchymal transition generates cells with properties of stem cells
Abstract
The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key developmental program that is often activated during cancer invasion and metastasis. We here report that the induction of an EMT in immortalized human mammary epithelial cells (HMLEs) results in the acquisition of mesenchymal traits and in the expression of stem-cell markers. Furthermore, we show that those cells have an increased ability to form mammospheres, a property associated with mammary epithelial stem cells. Independent of this, stem cell-like cells isolated from HMLE cultures form mammospheres and express markers similar to those of HMLEs that have undergone an EMT. Moreover, stem-like cells isolated either from mouse or human mammary glands or mammary carcinomas express EMT markers. Finally, transformed human mammary epithelial cells that have undergone an EMT form mammospheres, soft agar colonies, and tumors more efficiently. These findings illustrate a direct link between the EMT and the gain of epithelial stem cell properties.
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Comment in
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Epithelial-mesenchymal transition and the stem cell phenotype.Cell Stem Cell. 2008 Jun 5;2(6):511-2. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2008.05.007. Cell Stem Cell. 2008. PMID: 18522839
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The changing faces of cancer cells.Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2010 Jul;11(7):466. doi: 10.1038/nrm2923. Epub 2010 Jun 16. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2010. PMID: 20551963 No abstract available.
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