Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec 11;22(6):709-24.
doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2012.10.012. Epub 2012 Nov 29.

Metastatic colonization requires the repression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition inducer Prrx1

Affiliations
Free article

Metastatic colonization requires the repression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition inducer Prrx1

Oscar H Ocaña et al. Cancer Cell. .
Free article

Abstract

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is required in the embryo for the formation of tissues for which cells originate far from their final destination. Carcinoma cells hijack this program for tumor dissemination. The relevance of the EMT in cancer is still debated because it is unclear how these migratory cells colonize distant tissues to form macrometastases. We show that the homeobox factor Prrx1 is an EMT inducer conferring migratory and invasive properties. The loss of Prrx1 is required for cancer cells to metastasize in vivo, which revert to the epithelial phenotype concomitant with the acquisition of stem cell properties. Thus, unlike the classical EMT transcription factors, Prrx1 uncouples EMT and stemness, and is a biomarker associated with patient survival and lack of metastasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources