上皮-间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition,EMT)是指具有极性的上皮细胞丧失极性,转化成具有迁移能力的间质细胞的过程。在乳腺癌中,EMT的发生促进原位癌向侵袭性癌发展,并与肿瘤细胞获得耐药性有关。参与调控细胞发生EMT的因素众多,涉及众多信号通路、转录因子及下游相关基因。其中,转化生长因子β(transforming growth factorβ,TGF-β)信号通路在乳腺癌EMT过程中起着重要的作用。本文综述了TGF-β信号通路在调控乳腺癌EMT的研究进展。
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) refers to the transition during which epithelial cells undergo the loss of apical-basal polarity, acquisition of migration capability and transformation into mesenchymal cells. EMT induces breast cancer in situ to developing into metastasis and associates with the drug resistence. The multiple elements including signal pathways, transcriptional factors and downstream genes orchestrate the transition. Among them, the transforming growth factor β(TGF-β) signaling pathway plays a key role in the regulation of EMT in breast cancer. And this paper reviews the development of TGF-β signaling pathway induced EMT in breast cancer.