Nodal promotes invasive phenotypes via a mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent pathway.

ABSTRACT: The progression of cancer from localized to invasive disease is requisite for metastasis, and is often characterized by epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and alterations in cellular adhesion and migration. Studies have shown that this transition is associated with an upregulation of embryonic stem cell-associated genes, resulting in a dedifferentiated phenotype and poor patient prognosis. Nodal is an embryonic factor that plays a critical role in promoting early invasive events during development. Nodal is silenced as stem cells differentiate; however, it re-emerges in adult life during placentation and mammary gland development, and is aberrantly expressed in many cancers. Here, we show that Nodal overexpression, in poorly invasive breast cancer and choriocarcinoma cells, causes

SUBMITTER: Quail DF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5025281 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature