Visualizing Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Using the Chromobody Technology

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a complex cellular program involved in the progression of epithelial cancers to a metastatic stage. Along this process, epithelial traits are repressed in favor of a motile mesenchymal phenotype. A detailed characterization and monitoring of EMT-related processes is required for the design of screening strategies needed to develop novel antimetastatic therapies. Overexpression of the canonical EMT biomarker vimentin correlates with increased tumor growth and invasiveness, as well as with reduced patient survival across various epithelial cancers. Moreover, recent findings have demonstrated an active role of vimentin in regulating and reorganizing the cellular architecture toward a migratory and invasive phenotype. However, current studies suffer from a lack of appropriate methods to trace the induction and dynamics of vimentin in cell-based assays. Recently, we have reported a novel intrabody (chromobody)-based approach to study the spatiotemporal organization of endogenous vimentin upon induction of EMT by high-content imaging. In this review, we discuss the relevance of the chromobody technology with regard to the visualization of EMT-related processes in living systems. Cancer Res; 76(19); 5592-6. ©2016 AACR.