Investigating Epithelial-To-Mesenchymal Transition with Integrated Computational and Experimental Approaches

Abstract

The transition between epithelial and mesenchymal (EMT) is a fundamental cellular process that plays critical roles in development, cancer metastasis, and tissue wound healing. EMT is not a binary process but involves multiple partial EMT states that give rise to a high degree of cell state plasticity. Here, we first reviewed several studies on theoretical predictions and experimental verification of these intermediate states, the role of partial EMT on kidney fibrosis development, and how quantitative signaling information controls cell commitment to partial or full EMT upon transient signals. Next, we summarized existing knowledge and open questions on the coupling between EMT and other biological processes, such as the cell cycle, epigenetic regulation, stemness, and apoptosis. Taken together, EMT is a model system that has attracted increasing interests for quantitative experimental and theoretical studies.

arXiv comment37 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Physical Biology

References in corpus (6)

• Coupled Reversible and Irreversible Bistable Switches Underlying TGF-β-induced Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
• The physics of epigenetics
• Statistical Mechanics Model for the Dynamics of Collective Epigenetic Histone Modification
• mRNA-miRNA Reciprocal Regulation Enabled Bistable Switch Directs Cell Fate Decision
• Achieving Diverse and Monoallelic Olfactory Receptor Selection Through Dual-Objective Optimization Design
• Application of the projection operator formalism to non-Hamiltonian dynamics