Science · 1994 · 213 citations · 22 references
Life SciencesCancer BiologyCell BiologyCell JunctionsMolecular OncologyOncogenesCancer Cell SignalingEpithelial TumorsEpithelial-mesenchymal TransitionEpithelial-to-mesenchymal TransitionOncogenic Signaling PathwaysSignal Transduction In CancerCytoskeletal ElementsEpithelial-mesenchymal TransformationEpithelial-mesenchymal Transition In CancerEpithelial-mesenchymal Transition In DevelopmentEpithelial-mesenchymal Transition MarkersEpithelium-mesenchyme TransitionHepatocyte Growth Factor SignalingTight Junction Adhesion Proteins
Coexpression of the human Met receptor and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF), in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts causes the cells to become tumorigenic in nude mice. The resultant tumors display lumen-like morphology, contain carcinoma-like focal areas with intercellular junctions resembling desmosomes, and coexpress epithelial (cytokeratin) and mesenchymal (vimentin) cytoskeletal markers. The tumor cells also display enhanced expression of desmosomal and tight-junction proteins. The apparent mesenchymal to epithelial conversion of the tumor cells mimics the conversion that occurs during embryonic kidney development, suggesting that Met-HGF/SF signaling plays a role in this process as well as in tumors that express both epithelial and mesenchymal markers.
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Scatter factor is a fibroblast-derived modulator of epithelial cell mobility
M. G. P. Stoker, Ermanno Gherardi, M. Benjamin Perryman et al. · Nature · 1987 · 1.3K citations