Tracking and Functional Characterization of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Mesenchymal Tumor Cells during Prostate Cancer Metastasis.

ABSTRACT: The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been postulated as a mechanism by which cancer cells acquire the invasive and stem-like traits necessary for distant metastasis. However, direct in vivo evidence for the role of EMT in the formation of cancer stem-like cells (CSC) and the metastatic cascade remains lacking. Here we report the first isolation and characterization of mesenchymal-like and EMT tumor cells, which harbor both epithelial and mesenchymal characteristics, in an autochthonous murine model of prostate cancer. By crossing the established Pb-Cre(+/-);Pten(L/L);Kras(G12D) (/+) prostate cancer model with a vimentin-GFP reporter strain, generating CPKV mice, we were able to isolate epithelial, EMT, and mesenchymal-like cancer cells based on expression of vimentin and EpCAM.

SUBMITTER: Ruscetti M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4490048 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature