Abstract

MONTENEGRO, María Angélica  and  ROJAS, Mariana A.. EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSFORMATION DURING EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT. Rev. chil. anat. [online]. 2001, vol.19, n.3, pp.301-310. ISSN 0716-9868.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-98682001000300012.

The transformation between epithelia and mesenchyme is a critical cellular process that plays an important role in the morphogenesis of a number of different tissues: the disappearance of the midline palatal epithelial seam leading to confluence of the palate; the cells of the müllerian epithelium  destined to disappear in the male; the formation of the mesoderm during gastrulation; the development of the neural crest; the formation of the atrioventricular cushion and the aortic-pulmonary septum in the embryonic heart, etc. During this process the switch from cytokeratin expression (normally present in epithelia) to vimentin (normally present in mesenchyme) occur. The basal lamina disappears and elongating epithelial cells extend filopodia into the adyacent mesenchyme. The cells loss epithelial cell junctions, and adopt a fibroblastic morphology. In most of these tissues, the molecular control of the epithelial-mesenchymal transformation is associated to the expression of growth factors, mainly TGF-ß3 and to the zinc finger protein Slug

Keywords : Epithelial-mesenchymal transformation; . Palatal fusion; Neural crest; Embryonic hear; Formation of the mesoderm.