title: The 'alternative' EMT switch.
abstract: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an essential process in embryonic development and is aberrantly induced in many disease settings. Work carried out by Chonghui Cheng's laboratory addressed the involvement of alternative RNA splicing in EMT and its link to tumour progression. They describe a switch in CD44 expression from variant isoform(s) to the standard isoform and showed, for the first time, that this is required for normal epithelial cells to undergo EMT. In addition, they link expression of the CD44 standard isoform with high-grade breast cancer and to activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway and apoptosis resistance in a mouse model of recurrent disease.
authors: Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK. pamela.klingbeil@icr.ac.uk
authors: Pamela
authors: P
authors: Klingbeil
authors: Clare M
authors: CM
authors: Isacke
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors