Transformations between epithelium and mesenchyme: Normal, pathological, and experimentally induced

doi:10.1016/0272-6386(95)90610-X

American Journal of Kidney Diseases

Volume 26, Issue 4, October 1995, Pages 678-690

https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-6386(95)90610-X Get rights and content

Abstract

In this review, we define the two major tissue types, epithelium and mesenchyme, and we describe the transformations (transdifferentiations) of epithelium to mesenchyme (EMT) and mesenchyme to epithelium (MET) that occur during embryonic development. The differentiation of the metanephric blastema provides a striking example of MET. Differentiation of metanephric epithelium is promoted by matrix molecules and receptors (nidogen, laminins, α6 integrins), hepatic growth factor/scatter factor, and products of the genes wnt-1, wnt-4, and Pax-2. Transformation of MDCK epithelium to mesenchyme-like cells is promoted in vitro by antibodies to E-cadherin, products of v-src, v-ras, and v-mos, and by manipulation of the epithelium on collagen gels. Suspension in collagen gel, transforming growth factors, and c-fos have also been shown to promote EMT in epithelia. We present studies from our laboratory showing that α5β1 integrin has a role in the EMT of lens epithelium that is brought about by suspension in collagen gel. Our laboratory has also shown that transfection with the E-cadherin gene induces embryonic corneal fibroblasts to undergo MET and that this MET is enhanced by interaction of the differentiating epithelium with living fibroblasts. This review calls attention to the roles that EMT and MET might have in kidney pathologies and urges further study of the involvement of these phenomena in renal development, renal injury, and renal malignancy.

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^☆: Supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (R01 EY09721 and R01 DK46768, P01-DK38452).

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Physiology and cell biology updateTransformations between epithelium and mesenchyme: Normal, pathological, and experimentally induced☆

Abstract

Curr Opin Cell Biol

Exp Cell Res

Cell

Dev Biol

Dev Biol

Cell

Cell

Cell

Cell

Dev Biol

Vision Res

Differentiation

Urol Clin North Am

Kidney Int

Hum Pathol

Cell

Dev Biol

Transformation of cell adhesion properties by exogenously introduced E-cadherin cDNA

Nature

The structure of the cell adhesion molecule uvomorulin: Insights into the molecular mechanism of Ca2+ dependent cell adhesion

EMBO J

Cellular expression of liver and neural cell adhesion molecules after tranfection with their cDNAs results in specific cell-cell binding

Regulation in vitro of an L-CAM enhancer by homeo-box genes HoxD9 and HNF-1

Defining interactions and distribution of cadherin and catenin complexes in polarized epithelial cells

J Cell Biol

Syndecan, a morphogenetically regulated cell surface proteoglycan that binds extracellular matrix and growth factors

Philos Trans R Soc Lond

Function of the syndecans: A family of cell surface proteoglycans

J Cell Sci

Loss of cell surface syndecan-1 causes epithelia to transform into anchorage-independent mesenchyme-like cells

Mol Biol Cell

Cell Biology of Extracellular Matrix

Novel function for β1 integrins in keratinocyte cell-cell interactions

J Cell Biol

The role of integrins α2β1 and α3β1 in cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesion of human epidermal cells

J Cell Biol

Role of mesenchymal nidogen for epithelial morphogenesis in vitro

Development

Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions

Semin Dev Biol

Theory for epithelial-mesenchymal transformation based on the “fixed cortex” cell motility model

Cell Motil Cytoskeleton

“Trans-differentiation” from epidermal to mesenchymal/myogenic phenotype is associated with a drastic change in cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion molecules

J Cell Biol

E-cadherin null mutant embryos fail to form a trophectoderm epithelium

Glomerulogenesis in the developing kidney

Semin Nephrol

Developmentally regulated conversion of mesenchyme to epithelium

FASEB J

Recognition of the laminin E8 cell-binding site by an integrin possessing the α6 integrin subunit is essential for epithelial polarization in developing kidney tubules

J Cell Biol

Epithelial transformation of metanephric mesenchyme in the developing kidney regulated by wnt-4

Nature

Pax-2 is required for mesenchyme to epithelium conversion during kidney development

Development

PAX8, a murine paired box gene expressed in the developing excretory system and thyroid gland

Development

Dissociation of Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells by the monoclonal antibody anti-Arc-1: Mechanistic aspects and identification of the antigen as a component related to uvomorulin

J Cell Biol

Dissecting tumor cell invasion: Epithelial cells acquire invasive properties after the loss of uvomorulin-mediated cell-cell adhesion

J Cell Biol

The role of E-cadherin and integrins in mesoderm differentiation and migration at the mammalian primitive streak

Development

Construction of epithelial sheets by transfection of mouse sarcoma cells with cDNAs for chicken cell adhesion molecules

Cell-cell contacts mediated by E-cadherin (uvomorulin) restrict invasive behavior of L-cells

J Cell Biol

Molecular aspects of mesenchymal-epithelial interactions

Annu Rev Cell Biol

Mesenchymal-epithelial transitions

BioEssays

Scatter factor is a fibroblast-derived modulator of epithelial cell motility

Nature

Identification of the hepatocyte growth factor receptor as the c-met proto-oncogene product

Science

Scatter factor: Molecular characteristics and effect on the invasiveness of epithelial cells

J Cell Biol

Physiology and cell biology update
Transformations between epithelium and mesenchyme: Normal, pathological, and experimentally induced☆

The structure of the cell adhesion molecule uvomorulin: Insights into the molecular mechanism of Ca²⁺ dependent cell adhesion