Collective cell migration and metastases induced by an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in Drosophila intestinal tumors

Metastasis underlies the majority of cancer-related deaths yet remains poorly understood due, in part, to the lack of models in vivo. Here we show that expression of the EMT master inducer Snail in primary adult Drosophila intestinal tumors leads to the dissemination of tumor cells and formation of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Campbell,Kyra, Rossi,Fabrizio, Adams, Jamie, Pitsidianaki, Ioanna, Barriga, Francisco M., Garcia-Gerique, Laura, Batlle, Eduard, Casanova, Jordi, Casali, Andreu
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/69454
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10269-y
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/69454
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cáncer de colon
Drosophila
EMT
Descripción
Sumario:Metastasis underlies the majority of cancer-related deaths yet remains poorly understood due, in part, to the lack of models in vivo. Here we show that expression of the EMT master inducer Snail in primary adult Drosophila intestinal tumors leads to the dissemination of tumor cells and formation of macrometastases. Snail drives an EMT in tumor cells, which, although retaining some epithelial markers, subsequently break through the basal lamina of the midgut, undergo a collective migration and seed polyclonal metastases. While metastases re-epithelialize over time, we found that early metastases are remarkably mesenchymal, discarding the requirement for a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition for early stages of metastatic growth. Our results demonstrate the formation of metastases in adult flies, and identify a key role for partial-EMTs in driving it. This model opens the door to investigate the basic mechanisms underlying metastasis, in a powerful in vivo system suited for rapid genetic and drug screens.