Effect of CCL18 on Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) of alveolar epithelial cells

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an orchestrated series of events, the cytoskeleton is rearranged and a new transcriptional program is induced to maintain a mesenchymal phenotype. Epithelial-mesenchymal interactions have critical roles in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. It has been proposed that myofibroblasts originate from the transformation of epithelial cells via epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) TGF-beta is a major regulator of this effect, which is induced by chronic exposure of TGF-beta to rat epithelial cells [Willis, Am J Pathol 2005]. CCL18, an indicator of alternative activa…