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PMID: 25607528 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review

ZEB1: at the crossroads of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metastasis and therapy resistance.

Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) ·Vol. 14 ·No. 4 ·2015-00-00 ·Pages 481-7

Zhang P, Sun Y, Ma L

Abstract

Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) is a transcription factor that promotes tumor invasion and metastasis by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in carcinoma cells. EMT not only plays an important role in embryonic development and malignant progression, but is also implicated in cancer therapy resistance. It has been hypothesized that carcinoma cells that have undergone EMT acquire cancer stem cell properties including self-renewal, chemoresistance and radioresistance. However, our recent data indicate that ZEB1 regulates radioresistance in breast cancer cells through an EMT-independent mechanism. In this Perspective, we review different mechanisms by which ZEB1 regulates tumor progression and treatment resistance. Based on studies by us and others, we propose that it is specific EMT inducers like ZEB1, but not the epithelial or mesenchymal state itself, that dictate cancer stem cell properties.

Keywords
ZEB1 drug resistance epithelial-mesenchymal transition metastasis radioresistance
MeSH Terms
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition/physiology Homeodomain Proteins/physiology Humans Models, Biological Neoplasm Metastasis/physiopathology Neoplasms/physiopathology,radiotherapy Radiation Tolerance/physiology Transcription Factors/physiology Zinc Finger E-box-Binding Homeobox 1
Chemicals
Homeodomain Proteins Transcription Factors ZEB1 protein, human Zinc Finger E-box-Binding Homeobox 1
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Zhang Peijing
a Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology.
Sun Yutong
Ma Li
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Article Info
Journal
Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.)
Abbr.
Cell Cycle
ISSN
1551-4005
DOI
10.1080/15384101.2015.1006048
Published
2015-00-00
Pages
481-7
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
101137841
PMCID
PMC4614883
Subset
IM
Grants
NCI NIH HHS · R01 CA166051 · United States
NCI NIH HHS · R01 CA181029 · United States
NCI NIH HHS · R01CA166051 · United States
NCI NIH HHS · R01CA181029 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1080/15384101.2015.1006048 PMC Full Text View journal details
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