Journal Article

Paracrine regulation of neural crest EMT by placodal MMP28

Berki, Bianka, Gouignard, Nadège, Bibonne, Anne, Saint-Jeannet, Jean-Pierre, Barriga, Elias H., Bajanca, Fernanda, Mata, João F., Theveneau, Eric

2023

Overview

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an early event in cell dissemination from epithelial tissues. EMT endows cells with migratory, and sometimes invasive, capabilities and is thus a key process in embryo morphogenesis and cancer progression. So far, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have not been considered as key players in EMT but rather studied for their role in matrix remodelling in later events such as cell migration per se. Here, we used Xenopus neural crest cells to assess the role of MMP28 in EMT and migration in vivo. We show that a catalytically active MMP28, expressed by neighbouring placodal cells, is required for neural crest EMT and cell migration. We provide strong evidence indicating that MMP28 is imported in the nucleus of neural crest cells where it is required for normal Twist expression. Our data demonstrate that MMP28 can act as an upstream regulator of EMT in vivo raising the possibility that other MMPs might have similar early roles in various EMT-related contexts such as cancer, fibrosis, and wound healing.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Apoptosis / Biological control systems / Biology and Life Sciences / Cancer / Cell adhesion & migration / Cell differentiation / Cell migration / Cell research / Computer and Information Sciences / Embryos / Epithelial cells / Extracellular matrix / Fibrosis / Genes / Hybridization / Life Sciences / Matrix metalloproteinase / Matrix metalloproteinases / Medical prognosis / Metalloenzymes / Morphogenesis / Neural crest / Paracrine signalling / Physiological aspects / Research and Analysis Methods / Stem cells / Wound healing