Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 6, 2025

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
10:37

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

Published on: August 27, 2013

35.8K

EMT transcription factors activated circuits: A novel tool to study EMT dynamics and its therapeutic implications

Tianying Chen1, Wangyue Jia1, Bo Zhang1

  • 1MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic and System Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.

Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology
|January 4, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Synthetic biology circuits can now identify and target cancer cells undergoing epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). These novel EMT sensing and responding circuits offer new avenues for cancer therapy and research into EMT-related diseases.

Area of Science:

  • Biotechnology
  • Synthetic Biology
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is crucial in cancer progression and fibrosis.
  • The reversible nature of EMT, known as mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET), is key to cancer metastasis.
  • Current methods for tracing and targeting EMT cells are limited, hindering research and treatment development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop novel synthetic biology circuits for sensing and responding to EMT.
  • To enable the identification and potential targeting of EMT cells.
  • To facilitate the study of cell fate and targeted therapies in EMT-related diseases.

Main Methods:

  • Engineered EMT sensing circuits utilizing promoters responsive to EMT transcription factors (EMT-TFs).
  • Constructed NOT gate circuits incorporating EMT-sensing promoters and a tetR repressor.
  • Validated circuit performance through signal detection and cell proliferation assays.

Main Results:

  • EMT-sensing promoters showed a >13-fold decrease in transcriptional strength upon EMT-TF overexpression.
  • The developed EMT sensing and responding circuits exhibited a 5.8-fold signal increase in the presence of EMT transcription factors.
  • Successfully differentiated mesenchymal breast cancer cells from epithelial cancer cells and inhibited EMT tumor cell proliferation.

Conclusions:

  • The developed EMT sensing and responding circuits are effective tools for identifying EMT cells.
  • These circuits hold promise for advancing therapies for EMT-related diseases.
  • The circuits provide a valuable platform for investigating the mechanisms of reversible EMT.
Keywords:
Epithelial mesenchymal transitionSynthetic biologyTumor killing

More Related Videos

An Enzyme- and Serum-free Neural Stem Cell Culture Model for EMT Investigation Suited for Drug Discovery07:43

An Enzyme- and Serum-free Neural Stem Cell Culture Model for EMT Investigation Suited for Drug Discovery

Published on: August 23, 2016

10.0K
Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells06:54

Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells

Published on: October 27, 2020

13.0K

Related Concept Videos

Master Transcription Regulators02:23

Master Transcription Regulators

Master transcription regulators are regulatory proteins that are predominantly responsible for regulating the expression of multiple genes. Often these genes work in concert to drive a  complex process. Activation of a master transcription regulator can lead to a cascade of transcriptional activation necessary for that outcome. These regulators can directly bind to the regulatory sequences of the various genes involved, or they can indirectly regulate transcription by binding to regulatory...
6.9K
Mitogens and the Cell Cycle02:38

Mitogens and the Cell Cycle

Mitogens and their receptors play a crucial role in controlling the progression of the cell cycle. However, the loss of mitogenic control over cell division leads to tumor formation. Therefore, mitogens and mitogen receptors play an important role in cancer research. For instance, the epidermal growth factor (EGF) - a type of mitogen and its transmembrane receptor (EGFR), decides the fate of the cell's proliferation. When EGF binds to EGFR, a member of the ErbB family of tyrosine kinase...
6.5K
Cadherins in Tissue Organization01:19

Cadherins in Tissue Organization

The cadherins are a superfamily of cell adhesion molecules comprising over 180 variants, with specific tissues expressing a particular combination of cadherin types. Cadherins generally exhibit homophilic binding; i.e., cadherins on one cell bind to cadherins of the same or closely related type on another cell. Thus, cells of the same type have a specific affinity to bind to each other and sort themselves into clusters to form tissues.
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
3.0K
Transcription Factors02:16

Transcription Factors

Tissue-specific transcription factors contribute to diverse cellular functions in mammals. For example, the gene for beta globin, a major component of hemoglobin, is present in all cells of the body. However, it is only expressed in red blood cells because the transcription factors that can bind to the promoter sequences of the beta globin gene are only expressed in these cells. Tissue-specific transcription factors also ensure that mutations in these factors may impair only the function of...
75.9K
Eukaryotic Transcription Activators02:42

Eukaryotic Transcription Activators

Transcription activators are proteins that promote the transcription of genes from DNA to RNA. In most cases, these proteins contain two separate domains ‒ a domain that binds to DNA and a domain for activating transcription; however, in some cases, a single domain is responsible for both binding and activation of transcription, as seen in the glucocorticoid receptor and MyoD.
The binding domains are capable of recognizing and interacting with regulatory sequences on the DNA. These...
11.1K
General Transcription Factors01:30

General Transcription Factors

Tissue-specific transcription factors contribute to diverse cellular functions in mammals. For example, the gene for beta globin, a major component of hemoglobin, is present in all cells of the body. However, it is only expressed in red blood cells because the transcription factors that can bind to the promoter sequences of the beta globin gene are only expressed in these cells. Tissue-specific transcription factors also ensure that mutations in these factors may impair only the function of...
5.3K