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Mesenchymal–epithelial transition in development and reprogramming

Nature Cell Biology volume 21, pages 44–53 (2019)Cite this article

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During organogenesis, epithelial cells can give rise to mesenchymal cells through epithelial–mesenchymal transition. The reverse process, mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET), can similarly generate epithelial cells. Transitions between epithelial and mesenchymal states are also critical for the induction of pluripotent stem cells from somatic cells. This Review discusses the relatively less characterized process of MET, focusing on the genesis of apicobasal cell polarity and exploring the roles of MET in development and reprogramming.

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Fig. 1: Formation of the first epithelia in the mouse embryo through MET.
Fig. 2: Determinants of apicobasal polarity and lumen formation in epithelial cells.
Fig. 3: Sequential EMT and MET for reprogramming of somatic cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Jackson for her expert editing, K. Campbell, J. Casanova and E. Tzahor for advice and J. Peng for the artwork. D.P., X.S. and J.P.T. are supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31421004) and the Key grant from the Guangdong Science and Technology Foundation of Guangdong Province (2017B030314056). A.G.-D. is supported by INSERM and the Ligue contre le Cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, South China Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China

    Duanqing Pei, Xiaodong Shu & Jean Paul Thiery

  2. Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory at GIBH, Guangzhou, China

    Duanqing Pei & Xiaodong Shu

  3. INSERM, Unité, 1193, Villejuif, France

    Ama Gassama-Diagne

  4. Université Paris-Sud, UMR-S 1193, Villejuif, France

    Ama Gassama-Diagne

  5. Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Jean Paul Thiery

  6. CNRS UMR 7057 Matter and Complex Systems, University Paris Denis Diderot, Paris, France

    Jean Paul Thiery

  7. INSERM Unit 1186, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France

    Jean Paul Thiery

  8. Drug Discovery Pipeline, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Science, Guangzhou, China

    Jean Paul Thiery

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  1. Duanqing Pei
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  2. Xiaodong Shu
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  3. Ama Gassama-Diagne
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  4. Jean Paul Thiery
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All authors contributed equally to the Review.

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Pei, D., Shu, X., Gassama-Diagne, A. et al. Mesenchymal–epithelial transition in development and reprogramming. Nat Cell Biol 21, 44–53 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-018-0195-z

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