Critical transitions and tipping points in EMT
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REVIEW Critical transitions and tipping points in EMT Peng Wang1,4, Luonan Chen2,3,4,5,* 1
Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China 2 Key Laboratory of Systems Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China 3 Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China 4 School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China 5 Institute of Brain-Intelligence Technology, Zhangjiang Laboratory, Shanghai 201210, China * Correspondence: [email protected] Received May 21, 2020; Revised June 30, 2020; Accepted July 1, 2020 Background: Phase transition and phase separation as well as their tipping points are penetrating phenomena in biology and are intrinsic properties of biological systems ranging from basic molecule complexes to cells and all way up to entire ecosystems. Results: For example, phase separation has been established as a key mechanism for biological molecules such as protein or RNA to form membraneless organelles to perform complex biological functions. Phase transitions are commonly observed during cellular differentiation, and generally, there are the tipping points or critical states just before the phase transitions. And the stability of ecosystem and extinction of species are systematic manifestation of phase transitions. All phase transition and phase separation phenomena display switch-like behavior and critical transitions. Conclusion: Here we summarize the concepts regarding the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a type of phase changes and the implication of critical transitions in EMT, and discuss open questions and challenges in this fast-moving field.
Keywords: EMT; phase transition; tipping points Author summary: Similar to physical matters, such as water, living things are also dynamic and often transit through different states. For example, people can exit healthy state and develop diseases. The dynamics of life is driven by changes of macromolecules and the networks through which macromolecules interact. Recently, phase separation, a specific form of macromolecule state changes, emerges as a fundamental way to modulate the function of macromolecules. Intriguingly, phase separation shares similar characteristics with the state transition of biological networks. Here we compare molecule and network level state changes, and discuss the emerging principles of biological state transitions.
OVERVIEW OF PHASE-TRANSITION AND PHASE SEPARATION IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS The term phase transition is first used to describe state changes of physical systems, such as the transition of H2O from solid to liquid and to gas phase when temperature or pressure raises [1]. During phase transition, matters at each state share
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