Quantifying the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) from Bench to Bedside

Abstract

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its reversal, the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) are critical components of the metastatic cascade in breast cancer and many other solid tumor types. Recent work has uncovered the presence of a variety of states encompassed within the EMT spectrum, each of which may play unique roles or work collectively to impact tumor progression. However, defining EMT status is not routinely carried out to determine patient prognosis or dictate therapeutic decision-making in the clinic. Identifying and quantifying the presence of various EMT states within a tumor is a critical first step to scoring patient tumors to aid in determining prognosis. Here, we review the major strides taken towards translating our understanding of EMT biology from bench to bedside. We review previously used approaches including basic immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry, single-cell sequencing, and multiplexed tumor mapping. Future studies will benefit from the consideration of multiple methods and combinations of markers in designing a diagnostic tool for detecting and measuring EMT in patient tumors.

Harnessing epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity to boost cancer immunotherapy

“…Analysis of human cancer datasets also demonstrated that the EMT score (based on different EMT signatures) [ 94 ] strongly correlated with the immunosuppression signatures across different types of solid cancers [ 95 – 98 ]. The EMT score was found to be inversely associated with CD8 + T-cell infiltration in lung cancer [ 82 , 96 ].…”

Circular RNA hsa_circ_0002938 (circCRIM1) promotes the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by upregulating transcription factor 12

“…The initiation of EMT was featured by the downregulation of epithelial markers (i.e., E-cadherin) and the upregulation of mesenchymal markers (i.e., N-cadherin and Vimentin, etc.) [32]. In summary, circCRIM1 functioned as an onco-circRNA in ESCC cells by promoting proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion, and EMT.…”

Recent advances in micro-physiological systems for investigating tumor metastasis and organotropism

“…In in vitro systems, the state of EMT can be assessed using established markers that span a range of characteristics, from indicators of cellular stemness to markers of morphological alterations and transcriptional regulators. 34 For instance, the analysis of E-cadherin (an epithelial marker) and vimentin (a mesenchymal marker) at the transcriptional level or through immunofluorescent microscopy has been extensively utilized in traditional 2D platforms, 34 as well as in MPSs. [35][36][37]…”