Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 14, 2025
Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: August 27, 2013
Ionizing radiation induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human bronchial epithelial cells
Bo Tang1,2,3, Yue Xi1,2, Fengmei Cui1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
Objective:
The present study aimed to analyze the mechanism by which long-term occupational exposure of workers to low-dose ionizing irradiation induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of the human bronchial epithelial cells using transcriptome profiling.
Methods:
RNA-seq transcriptomics was used to determine gene expression in blood samples from radiation-exposed workers followed by bioinformatics analysis. Normal bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE) were irradiated for different durations and subjected to immunofluorescence, Western blotting, scratch healing, and adhesion assays to detect the progression of EMT and its underlying molecular mechanisms.
Results:
Transcriptomics revealed that exposure to ionizing radiation led to changes in the expression of genes related to EMT, immune response, and migration. At increased cumulative doses, ionizing radiation-induced significant EMT, as evidenced by a gradual decrease in the expression of E-cadherin, increased vimentin, elevated migration ability, and decreased adhesion capability of 16HBE cells. The expression of fibronectin 1 (FN1) showed a gradual increase with the progression of EMT, and may be involved in EMT.
Conclusion:
Ionizing radiation induces EMT. FN1 may be involved in the progression of EMT and could serve as a potential biomarker for this process.
