ArticleNature cell biology2009
The EMT-activator ZEB1 promotes tumorigenicity by repressing stemness-inhibiting microRNAs.
Article in Nature cell biology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 998 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
998 citing papers in PubMed, 1,686 citations in OpenAlex.
- Zeb1 Is a Determinant of EMT in Human MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells and M13-MDA231 Tumor Hybrids.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Translational insights and clinical challenges of targeting cancer stem cells.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- From Ferroptotic Stress to Stemness: TNT-Mediated EMT Plasticity in Cancer Progression.Stem cell reviews and reports · 2026Review
- Cancer stem cell plasticity: mechanisms, immune microenvironment crosstalk, and therapeutic implications.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- ZEB1 integrates stemness, differentiation blockade and immune suppression to orchestrate osteosarcoma aggressiveness.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2026Article
- An ERRα-ZEB1 transcriptional signature predicts survival in triple-negative breast cancers.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Claudin18.2 positive gastric cancer: biology, tumor microenvironment, and therapeutic strategies.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- Comprehensive analysis of the potential role of Ferroptosis-related genes in glioblastoma multiforme.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Implication of Epigenetic Alterations of ZEB1 in Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Pathogenesis and Therapy Development.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Article
- Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells: Mechanisms of Progression and Therapeutic Strategies.Oncology research · 2026Review
- Article
- microRNA involvement in human cancer.Carcinogenesis · 2025Review
- Research progress on chronic stress stimulation and gastric cancer metastasis.Discover oncology · 2025Review
- Review
- Targeting RRM2 with dual-modal theranostic smart nanoresponder overcomes osimertinib resistance and triggers immune remodeling in NSCLC.Science advances · 2025Article
- Novel multi-omics analysis revealing metabolic heterogeneity of breast cancer cell and subsequent development of associated prognostic signature.Translational oncology · 2025Article
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and microRNA: An epigenome-wide association study in firefighters.Environmental research · 2025Article
- miR-128-3p Reduces Proliferation and Immune Escape in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Through Targeted Regulation of ZEB1.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2025Article
938 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Invasion and metastasis of carcinomas is promoted by the activation of the embryonic 'epithelial to mesenchymal transition' (EMT) program, which triggers cellular mobility and subsequent dissemination of tumour cells. We recently showed that the EMT-activator ZEB1 (zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1) is a crucial promoter of metastasis and demonstrated that ZEB1 inhibits expression of the microRNA-200 (miR-200) family, whose members are strong inducers of epithelial differentiation. Here, we report that ZEB1 not only promotes tumour cell dissemination, but is also necessary for the tumour-initiating capacity of pancreatic and colorectal cancer cells. We show that ZEB1 represses expression of stemness-inhibiting miR-203 and that candidate targets of miR-200 family members are also stem cell factors, such as Sox2 and Klf4. Moreover, miR-200c, miR-203 and miR-183 cooperate to suppress expression of stem cell factors in cancer cells and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, as demonstrated for the polycomb repressor Bmi1. We propose that ZEB1 links EMT-activation and stemness-maintenance by suppressing stemness-inhibiting microRNAs (miRNAs) and thereby is a promoter of mobile, migrating cancer stem cells. Thus, targeting the ZEB1-miR-200 feedback loop might form the basis of a promising treatment for fatal tumours, such as pancreatic cancer.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.