Constitutive proteasomal degradation of TWIST-1 in epithelial-ovarian cancer stem cells impacts differentiation and metastatic potential.

ABSTRACT: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical process for embryogenesis but is abnormally activated during cancer metastasis and recurrence. This process enables epithelial cancer cells to acquire mobility and traits associated with stemness. It is unknown whether epithelial stem cells or epithelial cancer stem cells are able to undergo EMT, and what molecular mechanism regulates this process in these specific cell types. We found that epithelial-ovarian cancer stem cells (EOC stem cells) are the source of metastatic progenitor cells through a differentiation process involving EMT and mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET). We demonstrate both in vivo and in vitro the differentiation of EOC stem cells into mesenchymal spheroid-forming cells (MSFCs) and their capacity to initiate a

SUBMITTER: Yin G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3703656 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature