AXL induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and regulates the function of breast cancer stem cells.

ABSTRACT: Despite significant progress in the treatment of breast cancer, particularly through the use of targeted therapy, relapse and chemoresistance remain a major hindrance to the fight to minimize the burden of the disease. It is becoming increasingly clear that a rare subpopulation of cells known as cancer stem cells (CSC), able to be generated through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and capable of tumor initiation and self-renewal, contributes to treatment resistance and metastases. This means that a more effective therapy should target both the chemoresistant CSCs and the proliferating epithelial cells that give rise to them to reverse EMT and to attenuate their conversion to CSCs. Here, we demonstrate a novel function of AXL in acting upstream to induce EMT in normal and immortal

SUBMITTER: Asiedu MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3994701 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature