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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Clin Exp Metastasis. 2022 Jan 12;39(3):391–406. doi: 10.1007/s10585-022-10146-x

Fig. 1. Epithelial-Mesenchymal Plasticity.

Fig. 1

Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity describes a cell’s ability to transition between epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes. Epithelial cells are traditionally marked by the expression of junctional proteins such as E-cadherin and claudins while mesenchymal cells are characterized by the expression of N-cadherin and vimentin along with decreased levels of E-cadherin. The transition between these phenotypic end points includes intermediate stages referred to as hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal (E/M) states which display mixed epithelial and mesenchymal markers and characteristics. These hybrid E/M states are associated with increased metastatic potential and cancer stem cell properties. Created with BioRender.com