Breast carcinoma cells re-express E-cadherin during mesenchymal to epithelial reverting transition.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), implicated as a mechanism for tumor dissemination, is marked by loss of E-cadherin, disruption of cell adhesion, and induction of cell motility and invasion. In most intraductal breast carcinomas E-cadherin is regulated epigenetically via methylation of the promoter. E-cadherin expression is therefore dynamic and open to modulation by the microenvironment. In addition, it has been observed that metastatic foci commonly appear more differentiated than the primary tumor, suggesting that cancer cells may further undergo a mesenchymal to epithelial reverting transition (MErT) in the secondary organ environment following the EMT that allows for escape.

Results

We first examined E-cadherin expression in primary breast tumors a

SUBMITTER: Chao YL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2907333 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature