Live imaging and gene expression analysis in zebrafish identifies a link between neutrophils and epithelial to mesenchymal transition.

ABSTRACT: Chronic inflammation is associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer progression however the relationship between inflammation and EMT remains unclear. Here, we have exploited zebrafish to visualize and quantify the earliest events during epithelial cell transformation induced by oncogenic HRas(V12). Live imaging revealed that expression of HRas(V12) in the epidermis results in EMT and chronic neutrophil and macrophage infiltration. We have developed an in vivo system to probe and quantify gene expression changes specifically in transformed cells from chimeric zebrafish expressing oncogenic HRas(V12) using translating ribosomal affinity purification (TRAP). We found that the expression of genes associated with EMT, including slug, vimentin and mmp9, are enriched in

SUBMITTER: Freisinger CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4221567 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature