Detalle de: Epithelial Plasticity: A Common Theme in Embryonic and Cancer Cells

From Here to There To form different tissues and organs, embryonic cells must migrate to new locations. Specific transcription factors, epigenetic and splicing programs, and microRNA regulatory networks regulate this process, which is known as the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). During EMT, considerable cellular plasticity is observed, and once activated at their new location, cells must again change into their new differentiated form. This “reverse” event is called the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). Nieto (p. 10.1126/science.1234850 ) reviews EMT and MET as observed during normal development and in the generation of cancer when cells leave the primary tumor and travel to other parts of the body forming metastases and secondary tumors.