Year: 2008
Type: review
Abstract: Recent evidence has demonstrated that endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) may have a significant role in a number of diseases. Although EndMT has been previously studied as a critical process in heart development, it is now clear that EndMT can also occur postnatally in various pathologic settings, including cancer and cardiac fibrosis. During EndMT, resident endothelial cells delaminate from an organised cell layer and acquire a mesenchymal phenotype characterised by loss of cell-cell junctions, loss of endothelial markers, gain of mesenchymal markers, and acquisition of invasive and migratory properties. Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition -derived cells are believed to function as fibroblasts in damaged tissue, and may therefore have an important role in tissue remodelling and fibrosis. In tumours, EndMT is an important source of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which are known to facilitate tumour progression in several ways. These new findings suggest that targeting EndMT may be a novel therapeutic strategy, which is broadly applicable not only to cancer but also to various other disease states.
Source: British Journal of Cancer
Authors: S Potenta, E Zeisberg, R Kalluri
Language: English
Topic: Cancer Cells and Metastasis
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,190
Awards: The role of endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in the tumor stroma, G2512559947, G2775727941, G4325468103, Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Dynamics PhD Program, G4382730148, Regulation of Angiogenesis by Tumstatin, Matrix Microenvironment and Liver Fibrosis, G6230040343, G632314946, The Biology and Function of BMP-7 in the Kidney, Assembly of Type IV Collagen in Health and Disease, G9000059126
OpenAlex ID: W1979990833