Table I.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition in tumors is closely associated with several cytokines.
| Factors | Associated signaling pathways | Associations with tumor |
|---|---|---|
| IL-8 | p38/JNK-ATF-2 (2) | Induction of EMT (11) |
| PI3K/AKT (73) | Angiogenesis (75) | |
| NF-κB (66,74) | Promotion of cancer cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis (76) | |
| Wnt (69) | Lung cancer risk marker (77) | |
| IL-8 secretion by tumor cells (78) | ||
| Induced by TGFβ or SNAIL overexpression (36,79) | ||
| TGFβ | Syk/Src-AKT/ERK (30) | Induction of EMT (12) |
| Inhibition of E-cadherin (19) | ||
| Tumor cell migration (30) | ||
| MMP | NF-κB (80) | Induction of EMT (14) |
| Tumor cell metastasis (31) | ||
| Cytoskeleton remodeling (32) | ||
| SNAIL | PI3K (46) | EMT progression (25) |
| GSK 3β (42) | Changes in cytoskeleton (81) | |
| Activation of IL-8 (36) | ||
| VEGF | PI3K/AKT (82) | Promotion of EMT (2) |
| Angiogenesis (83) |
ATF-2, activating transcription factor-2; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; GSK 3β, glycogen synthase kinase 3β; IL-8, interleukin-8; PI3K, phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase; JNK, Jun N-terminal kinase; NF-κB, nuclear factor-κB; MMP, matrix metalloprotease; Syk, spleen associated tyrosine kinase; TGFβ, transforming growth factor β; VEGFR, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor.