Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Reporter Cell Lines: New Tools for Metastasis Studies
November 15, 2018, at 12:00 PM ETAbstract
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) describes a cellular process during which differentiated epithelial cells lose their epithelial features and gain mesenchymal properties. EMT has been implicated in the invasion-metastasis cascade hallmark of cancer; cells undergoing EMT display an ability to promote metastasis and elevated drug resistance. Therefore, an in vitro EMT reporter cell model is a valuable tool for dissecting EMT molecular pathways and screening therapeutic compounds. ATCC recently created novel EMT reporter knock-in cell lines by using CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technology. These EMT reporter cells faithfully recapitulate the endogenous EMT marker expression; in response to treatment, the reporter cells undergo EMT, enabling real-time monitoring of dynamic EMT intermediate states in live cells. Further, we present application data indicating that pathway- specific inhibitors can block EMT in a dose-dependent manner.
Key Points
- ATCC created EMT reporter knock-in cell lines by using CRISPR/Cas9 technology to incorporate a fluorescence reporter in the mesenchymal cell-associated vimentin gene sequence
- EMT reporter knock-in cells undergo EMT, enabling real-time monitoring of the dynamic EMT intermediate states in live cells.
- EMT pathway-specific inhibitors can block EMT in these engineered cell lines in a dose-dependent manner.
Presenter
Weiguo Shu, PhD
Senior Scientist, ATCC Cell Systems
Dr. Weiguo Shu, Senior Scientist, is the group leader of the Advanced In Vitro Cell Models group at ATCC Cell Systems. He oversees the gene-editing team for creating and characterizing genetically engineered cell lines via CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Dr. Shu has extensive experience in generating and charactering genetically modified in vivo and in vitro models. Before he joined ATCC, he was a scientist at The Jackson Laboratory, Sigma-Aldrich, and Taconic Biosciences (Xenogen Biosciences), and he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
