A twist tale of cancer metastasis and tumor angiogenesis
- Autores: Jen-Chieh Tseng, Hsiao-Fan Chen, Kou-Juey Wu
- Localización: Histology and histopathology: cellular and molecular biology, ISSN-e 1699-5848, ISSN 0213-3911, Vol. 30, Nº. 11, 2015, págs. 1283-1294
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
Twist1 is an evolutionally conserved transcription factor. Originally identified in Drosophila as a key regulator for mesoderm development, it was later implicated in many human diseases, including Saethre-Chotzen syndrome and cancer. Twist1�s involvement in cancer has been well recognized. Driven by hypoxia-induced factor-1 (HIF-1), Twist1 has been considered as a proto-oncogene and its overexpression has been observed in a wide variety of human cancers. High expression level of Twist1 is closely related to tumor aggressiveness and metastatic potential. In cancer cells, Twist1 has been shown to function as a key regulator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a critical process for metastasis initiation. Twist1 has also been implicated in maintaining cancer stemness for self-renewal and chemoresistance. This review first summarizes the roles of Twist1 in embryo development and Saethre-Chotzen syndrome followed by a discussion of Twist1�s critical functions in cancer. In particular, the review focuses on the recent discovery of Twist1�s capability to promote endothelial transdifferentiation of cancer cells beyond EMT
