Developmental Mechanism - Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition

Embryology - 24 Apr 2024        Expand to Translate
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Introduction

Gastrulation epithelial to mesenchymal transition

Epithelial cells (organised cellular layer) which loose their organisation and migrate/proliferate as a mesenchymal cells (disorganised cellular layers) are said to have undergone an Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT).

Mesenchymal cells, connective tissue-like, that have undergone this process may at a later time and under specific signaling can undergo the opposite process, mesenchyme to epithelia. In development, this process can be repeated several times during tissue differentiation.

Mechanism - "a process, technique, or system for achieving a result".

This process is also studied in carcinogenesis (oncogenesis) or cancer development, where part of this process can be the transformation of an epithelial cell into a mesenchymal cell.

Some Recent Findings

p53 coordinates cranial neural crest cell growth and epithelial-mesenchymal transition/delamination processes "Neural crest development involves epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), during which epithelial cells are converted into individual migratory cells. Notably, the same signaling pathways regulate EMT function during both development and tumor metastasis. p53 plays multiple roles in the prevention of tumor development; however, its precise roles during embryogenesis are less clear. We have investigated the role of p53 in early cranial neural crest (CNC) development in chick and mouse embryos. In the mouse, p53 knockout embryos displayed broad craniofacial defects in skeletal, neuronal and muscle tissues. In the chick, p53 is expressed in CNC progenitors and its expression decreases with their delamination from the neural tube. Stabilization of p53 protein using a pharmacological inhibitor of its negative regulator, MDM2, resulted in reduced SNAIL2 (SLUG) and ETS1 expression, fewer migrating CNC cells and in craniofacial defects."

More recent papers

This table allows an automated computer search of the external PubMed database using the listed "Search term" text link. This search now requires a manual link as the original PubMed extension has been disabled. The displayed list of references do not reflect any editorial selection of material based on content or relevance. References also appear on this list based upon the date of the actual page viewing. References listed on the rest of the content page and the associated discussion page (listed under the publication year sub-headings) do include some editorial selection based upon both relevance and availability. More? References | Discussion Page | Journal Searches | 2019 References | 2020 References Search term: Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition <pubmed limit=5>Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition</pubmed>

Gastrulation

Links:Gastrulation

Neural Crest Development

Links:

Heart Development

During heart development endocardial and epicardial cells produce non-cardiomyocyte lineages undergo rounds of epithelial to mesenchymal transition, see review.

Links: Cardiovascular System Development

Respiratory Development

Neonatal Human	Fetal Rabbit
Pulmonary neuroendocrine cell (EM)	Neuroepithelial body

Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Cells (PNECs) differentiate in the airway epithelium in late embryonic to early fetal period. Later in the mid-fetal period clusters of these cells form neuroepithelial bodies (NEBs). The cells migrate to to form these clusters by a process involving transient epithelial to mesenchymal transition. The process of migration has recently been described as “slithering”, where the cells transiently lose epithelial characteristics but remain associated with the membrane while traversing neighboring epithelial cells to reach cluster sites.

Links: Endocrine Respiratory | Respiratory System Development

Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition

The alternate process involves the conversion of the embryonic connective tissue organization (mesenchyme) to an epithelial organization (epithelium) that can occur during developmental processes.

This process can be seen occurring during early somitogenesis.

It is also suggested that this mechanism occurs in the maternal uterus during endometrial regeneration following decidualization.

Links: Mesenchymal Epithelial Transition

References

Reviews

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Search Pubmed: Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition

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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, April 24) Embryology Developmental Mechanism - Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Developmental_Mechanism_-_Epithelial_Mesenchymal_Transition

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© Dr Mark Hill 2024, UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4 - UNSW CRICOS Provider Code No. 00098G