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Phenotypic plasticity and epithelial‐mesenchymal transitions in cancer and normal stem cells?
Author(s) -
Scheel Christina,
Weinberg Robert A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.26311
Subject(s) - cancer stem cell , stem cell , biology , epigenetics , phenotype , cancer cell , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , mesenchymal stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , phenotypic plasticity , cancer , cancer research , genetics , metastasis , gene
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are similar to normal stem cells in their ability to self‐renew and to generate large populations of more differentiated descendants. In contrast to the hierarchical organization that is presumed to be the prevalent mode of normal tissue homeostasis, phenotypic plasticity allows cancer cells to dynamically enter into and exit from stem‐cell states. The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been closely associated with the acquisition of both invasive and stem‐cell properties in cancer cells. Thereby, EMT programs emerge as important regulators of phenotypic plasticity in cancer cells including their entrance into stem‐cell states. Much is still to be learned about the regulation of EMTs through epigenetic mechanisms in cancer cells and the contributions that EMT programs make to normal tissue homeostasis.