Genomic profiling of human Tert/shp53/Ras mesenchymal cells isolated from several xenografted tumors and their non-transformant epithelial counterparts. Homo sapiens

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an embryonic transdifferentiation program which consists of the conversion of polarized epithelial cells into a motile mesenchymal phenotype. EMT is aberrantly reactivated during tumor progression, promoting metastatic dissemination. Herein, we demonstrate that EMT-permissive conditions also favor tumor initiation by minimizing the number of events required for neoplastic transformation. We further demonstrated that even the partial commitment of human mammary epithelial cells into an EMT program is sufficient to confer malignant properties, suggesting that the reactivation of embryonic EMT inducers participates to the primary tumor growth long before the initiation of the invasion-metastasis cascade. Overall design: arrayCGH profiles analysis of Tert/shp53/Ras epithelial HMEC derivatives and 3 different tumors generated after injection of mesenchymal Tert/shp53/Ras/ HMEC derivatives in fad pads of nude mice