Figure 1.

Adipose cells induce EMT. (a) White adipose tissue, the storage form of adipose tissue seen in obesity, releases adipose stromal cells that migrate to the tumor microenvironment and release soluble adipokines; (b) the adipokines induce normal prostate epithelium to undergo EMT; (c) normal prostate epithelium is characterized by high Cdh1 expression, susceptibility to anoikis, TGF-β acts as a tumor suppressing signal, non-migratory phenotype, and chemotherapeutic susceptibility; (d) malignant prostate epithelium with EMT phenotype is characterized by low Cdh1 expression, high Cdh2 expression, increased expression of EMT-associated transcription factors, anoikis resistance, TGF-β acts as a driver of malignancy, migratory and invasive phenotype, and chemotherapeutic resistance. EMT, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.