Interconnected high-dimensional landscapes of epithelial�mesenchymal plasticity and stemness in cancer

Sahoo, S and Ashraf, B and Duddu, AS and Biddle, A and Jolly, MK (2022) Interconnected high-dimensional landscapes of epithelial�mesenchymal plasticity and stemness in cancer. In: Clinical and Experimental Metastasis .

PDF cli_exp_met_2022.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (1MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Establishing macrometastases at distant organs is a highly challenging process for cancer cells, with extremely high attrition rates. A very small percentage of disseminated cells have the ability to dynamically adapt to their changing micro-environments through reversibly switching to another phenotype, aiding metastasis. Such plasticity can be exhibited along one or more axes�epithelial�mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) and cancer stem cells (CSCs) being the two most studied, and often tacitly assumed to be synonymous. Here, we review the emerging concepts related to EMP and CSCs across multiple cancers. Both processes are multi-dimensional in nature; for instance, EMP can be defined on morphological, molecular and functional changes, which may or may not be synchronized. Similarly, self-renewal, multi-lineage potential, and resistance to anoikis and/or therapy may not all occur simultaneously in CSCs. Thus, understanding the complexity in defining EMP and CSCs is essential if we are to understand their contribution to cancer metastasis. This will require a more comprehensive understanding of the non-linearity of these processes. These processes are dynamic, reversible, and semi-independent in nature; cells traverse the inter-connected high-dimensional EMP and CSC landscapes in diverse paths, each of which may exhibit a distinct EMP-CSC coupling. Our proposed model offers a potential unifying framework for elucidating the coupled decision-making along these dimensions and highlights a key set of open questions to be answered. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Clinical and Experimental Metastasis
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
Department/Centre:	Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences > Centre for Biosystems Science and Engineering UG Programme
Date Deposited:	27 Jan 2022 11:46
Last Modified:	27 Jan 2022 11:46
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/71030

Actions (login required)

View Item