beta-catenin

By Victoria Osinski

By Jamshed Arslan, Pharm. D., PhD.

By Michalina Hanzel, PhD

By Jamshed Arslan Pharm.D.

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is the trans-differentiation of stationary epithelial cells into motile mesenchymal cells. During EMT, epithelial cells lose their junctions and apical-basal polarity, reorganize their cytoskeleton, undergo a change in the signaling cascade that defines cell shape and reprograms gene expression. Collectively, these changes increase the motility of individual cells and enables the development of an invasive phenotype.

CD63 is a type II membrane protein belonging to tetraspanin superfamily and it play key roles in the activation of several cellular signaling cascades along with acting as TIMP1 receptor. It is expressed by activated platelets, monocytes, macrophages, granulocytes, T /B cells, and different type of cancer cells. CD63 localizes to endosomes, lysosomes and on the cellular surfaces, and is often considered as a marker for late endosomes as well as for lysosomes.

Notch1 is a member of the Notch family of Type 1 single-pass transmembrane proteins that share an extracellular domain of multiple epidermal growth factor-like (EGF) repeats. Notch family members play key roles in a variety of developmental processes via the regulation of cell fate. These processes include cell-fate determination, proliferation, and cell contact-dependent signaling. In Drosophila, notch interaction with its cell-bound ligands (delta, serrate) establishes a key development intercellular signaling pathway.