Browsing by Author "Goldman, Aaron"

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    Notch-Jagged signalling can give rise to clusters of cells exhibiting a hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal phenotype
    (Royal Society Publishing, 2016) Boareto, Marcelo; Jolly, Mohit Kumar; Goldman, Aaron; Pietilä, Mika; Mani, Sendurai A.; Sengupta, Shiladitya; Ben-Jacob, Eshel; Levine, Herbert; Onuchic, José Nelson; Center for Theoretical Biological Physics
    Metastasis can involve repeated cycles of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its reverse mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition. Cells can also undergo partial transitions to attain a hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal (E/M) phenotype that allows the migration of adhering cells to form a cluster of circulating tumour cells. These clusters can be apoptosis-resistant and possess an increased metastatic propensity as compared to the cells that undergo a complete EMT (mesenchymal cells). Hence, identifying the key players that can regulate the formation and maintenance of such clusters may inform anti-metastasis strategies. Here, we devise a mechanism-based theoretical model that links cell–cell communication via Notch-Delta-Jagged signalling with the regulation of EMT. We demonstrate that while both Notch-Delta and Notch-Jagged signalling can induce EMT in a population of cells, only Jagged-dominated Notch signalling, but not Delta-dominated signalling, can lead to the formation of clusters containing hybrid E/M cells. Our results offer possible mechanistic insights into the role of Jagged in tumour progression, and offer a framework to investigate the effects of other microenvironmental signals during metastasis.