Intermediate cell states in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

Authors

Yutong Sha, University of California, Irvine
Daniel Haensel, University of California, Irvine
Guadalupe Gutierrez, University of California, Irvine
Huijing Du, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Xing Dai, University of California, IrvineFollow
Qing Nie, University of California, IrvineFollow

ORCID IDs

0000-0002-8804-3368

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2019

Citation

Phys. Biol. 16 (2019) 021001

Comments

© 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd

Open access

https://doi.org/10.1088/1478-3975/aaf928

Abstract

The transition of epithelial cells into a mesenchymal state (epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT) is a highly dynamic process implicated in various biological processes. During EMT, cells do not necessarily exist in ‘pure’ epithelial or mesenchymal states. There are cells with mixed (or hybrid) features of the two, which are termed as the intermediate cell states (ICSs). While the exact functions of ICS remain elusive, together with EMT it appears to play important roles in embryogenesis, tissue development, and pathological processes such as cancer metastasis. Recent single cell experiments and advanced mathematical modeling have improved our capability in identifying ICS and provided a better understanding of ICS in development and disease. Here, we review the recent findings related to the ICS in/or EMT and highlight the challenges in the identification and functional characterization of ICS.