Fig. 1
From: Emerging roles of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hematological malignancies
The role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-transcription factors in myeloid malignancies. The major EMT-TFs in myeloid malignancies are Twist1, Snail1, Snail2, and ZEB. Twist1 up-regulates proto-oncogene c-MPL expression to promote leukemia cell growth. The Twist1/miRs-10a/b axis down-regulates p53-mediated cell apoptosis. Twist1 up-regulates and cooperates with Bmi1 to maintain leukemia cell self-renewal. Twist1 expression is also associated with drug resistance to daunorubicin and mitoxantrone in AML and imatinib mesylate in CML. ERK1/2-induced Snail2 expression leads to a down-regulation of PUMA and enhanced drug resistance in AML and CML. Alternatively, overexpression of Snail1 results in anti-apoptotic activity and radio-resistance. ZEB2 is an essential transcription factor for AML cells to maintain stemness