Surprisal analysis characterizes the free energy time course of cancer cells undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

ABSTRACT: The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) initiates the invasive and metastatic behavior of many epithelial cancers. Mechanisms underlying EMT are not fully known. Surprisal analysis of mRNA time course data from lung and pancreatic cancer cells stimulated to undergo TGF-β1-induced EMT identifies two phenotypes. Examination of the time course for these phenotypes reveals that EMT reprogramming is a multistep process characterized by initiation, maturation, and stabilization stages that correlate with changes in cell metabolism. Surprisal analysis characterizes the free energy time course of the expression levels throughout the transition in terms of two state variables. The landscape of the free energy changes during the EMT for the lung cancer cells shows a stable intermediate state.

SUBMITTER: Zadran S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4246928 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature