Table 1. Some of the biochemical marker and phenotypic changes characteristic of and concomitant to transformation of a cancer cell from epithelial to a mesenchymal phenotype.
| marker / mediator | epithelial state | mesenchymal state |
|---|---|---|
| E-cadherin | increased | decreased |
| N-cadherin | decreased | increased |
| ZO-1 | increased | decreased |
| occludin | increased | decreased |
| vimentin | decreased | increased |
| fibronectin | decreased | increased |
| MMP-2 | decreased | increased |
| MMP-9 | decreased | increased |
| phenotype | epithelial state | mesenchymal state |
| motility | sessile | motile |
| shape | elongated | rounded |
| adherence | adherent to neighbors | non-adherent to neighbors |
| invasion | non-invasive | invasive |
| proliferation | high | low |
| microtentacles | absent | present * |