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Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: August 27, 2013
Epithelial plasticity, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and the TGF-β family
1Department of Molecular Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Abstract:
Epithelial cells repress epithelial characteristics and elaborate mesenchymal characteristics to migrate to other locations and acquire new properties. Epithelial plasticity responses are directed through cooperation of signaling pathways, with TGF-β and TGF-β-related proteins playing prominent instructive roles. Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs) directed by activin-like molecules, bone morphogenetic proteins, or TGF-β regulate metazoan development and wound healing and drive fibrosis and cancer progression. In carcinomas, diverse EMTs enable stem cell generation, anti-cancer drug resistance, genomic instability, and localized immunosuppression. This review discusses roles of TGF-β and TGF-β-related proteins, and underlying molecular mechanisms, in epithelial plasticity in development and wound healing, fibrosis, and cancer.
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