Recent progress in epithelial mesenchymal transitions

The concept of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) provides a basis for understanding complex changes in gene expression, molecular function and cell behaviour. This field has undergone explosive growth in the last few years as the concept has spread from developmental biology to the pathologies of cancer and fibrosis. As scientists are on the verge of being able to control or mitigate the process of EMT in some pathological conditions, understanding of its fundamental mechanisms is of vital importance. This special issue brings together selected reviews and new data from the Boden Conference on Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transitions. The reviews highlight developmental, cancer and pathological EMTs, and are rich in detail at the cell and molecular levels. The publication is aimed at cancer biologists, pathologists and developmental biologists who are interested in why cells begin to move, and the genes and molecules involved in this process.