Journal
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
Volume 4, Issue 7, Pages 487-494Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/ncb807
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- NCI NIH HHS [K01 CA84244] Funding Source: Medline
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Metastasis is a multistep process that involves local tumour invasion followed by dissemination to, and re-establishment at, distant sites. Here we show that during multistage tumorigenesis, discrete expression thresholds of activated Smad2 and H-ras are sequentially surpassed, driving tumour progression through distinct phases from a differentiated squamous carcinoma to a motile invasive stage, followed by an overt change from epithelial to mesenchymal cell type, finally culminating in metastatic tumour spread. Smad2 activation alone induces migration of tumour cells. Elevated H-ras levels, however, are required for nuclear accumulation of Smad2, both of which are essential for the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Having undergone EMT, fibroblastoid carcinoma cells with elevated levels of activated Smad2, gain the capability to spread to a wide variety of tissues by a further increase in Smad2 expression. These findings have far-reaching implications for the prevention of tumour growth, invasion and metastasis.
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