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PMID: 21866313 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

Regulation of endothelial cell plasticity by TGF-β.

Cell and tissue research ·Vol. 347 ·No. 1 ·2012-01-00 ·Pages 177-86

van Meeteren LA, ten Dijke P

Abstract

Recent evidence has demonstrated that endothelial cells can have a remarkable plasticity. By a process called Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EndMT) endothelial cells convert to a more mesenchymal cell type that can give rise to cells such as fibroblasts, but also bone cells. EndMT is essential during embryonic development and tissue regeneration. Interestingly, it also plays a role in pathological conditions like fibrosis of organs such as the heart and kidney. In addition, EndMT contributes to the generation of cancer associated fibroblasts that are known to influence the tumor-microenvironment favorable for the tumor cells. EndMT is a form of the more widely known and studied Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). Like EMT, EndMT can be induced by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. Indeed many studies have pointed to the important role of TGF-β receptor/Smad signaling and downstream targets, such as Snail transcriptional repressor in EndMT. By selective targeting of TGF-β receptor signaling pathological EndMT may be inhibited for the therapeutic benefit of patients with cancer and fibrosis.

MeSH Terms
Animals Biomarkers/metabolism Cell Differentiation/physiology Cell Transdifferentiation/physiology Endothelial Cells/cytology,physiology Fibrosis/metabolism,pathology Humans Mesoderm/cytology,physiology Neoplasms/metabolism,pathology Signal Transduction/physiology Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism
Chemicals
Biomarkers Transforming Growth Factor beta
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
van Meeteren Laurens A
Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Centre for Biomedical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Postbus 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. L.A.van_Meeteren@lumc.nl
ten Dijke Peter
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Article Info
Journal
Cell and tissue research
Abbr.
Cell Tissue Res
ISSN
1432-0878
DOI
10.1007/s00441-011-1222-6
Email
l.a.van_meeteren@lumc.nl
Published
2012-01-00
Epub
2011-00-25
Pages
177-86
Language
English
Region
Germany
NLM ID
0417625
PMCID
PMC3250609
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1007/s00441-011-1222-6 PMC Full Text View journal details
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