Multistability in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition network

摘要

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) are essential processes of cellular plasticity. This plasticity manifests itself in embryonic development [ , ] and wound healing [ , ], but it is also of great interest for its role in carcinoma metastasis [ ]. Activation of the EMT program leads to a tumor-initiating state sometimes termed cancer stem cell (CSC) [ , ]. In addition, the EMT program modulates the immune response of the organism [ , ] and negatively affects immunotherapy.