Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 2, 2025

Detection of Alternative Splicing During Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: October 9, 2014
A complex epigenome-splicing crosstalk governs epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in metastasis and brain
Sanjeeb Kumar Sahu1,2, Eneritz Agirre3,4, Mohammed Inayatullah5
1Gene Expression Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Abstract:
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) renders epithelial cells migratory properties. While epigenetic and splicing changes have been implicated in EMT, the mechanisms governing their crosstalk remain poorly understood. Here we discovered that a C2H2 zinc finger protein, ZNF827, is strongly induced during various contexts of EMT, including in brain development and breast cancer metastasis, and is required for the molecular and phenotypic changes underlying EMT in these processes. Mechanistically, ZNF827 mediated these responses by orchestrating a large-scale remodelling of the splicing landscape by recruiting HDAC1 for epigenetic modulation of distinct genomic loci, thereby slowing RNA polymerase II progression and altering the splicing of genes encoding key EMT regulators in cis. Our findings reveal an unprecedented complexity of crosstalk between epigenetic landscape and splicing programme in governing EMT and identify ZNF827 as a master regulator coupling these processes during EMT in brain development and breast cancer metastasis.
Related Concept Videos
Epigenetic Regulation
X-chromosome...
Metastasis
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Chromatin Structure Regulates pre-mRNA Processing
The chromatin structure, especially...
RNA Splicing
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Somatic...

