Sci-Bytes> Hot Paper in Biology
Week of May 23, 2010
"The epithelial-mesenchymal transition generates cells with properties of stem cells," by Sendurai A. Mani and 14 others, Cell, 133(4): 704-15, 16 May 2008.
[Authors' affiliations: 8 U.S. and Swiss institutions]
Abstract: "The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is
a key developmental program that is often activated during cancer invasion
and metastasis. We here report that the induction of an EMT in immortalized
human mammary epithelial cells (HMLEs) results in the acquisition of
mesenchymal traits and in the expression of stem-cell markers. Furthermore,
we show that those cells have an increased ability to form mammospheres, a
property associated with mammary epithelial stem cells. Independent of
this, stem cell-like cells isolated from HMLE cultures form mammospheres
and express markers similar to those of HMLEs that have undergone an EMT.
Moreover, stem-like cells isolated either from mouse or human mammary
glands or mammary carcinomas express EMT markers. Finally, transformed
human mammary epithelial cells that have undergone an EMT form
mammospheres, soft agar colonies, and tumors more efficiently. These
findings illustrate a direct link between the EMT and the gain of
epithelial stem cell properties."
This 2008 paper from Cell was cited 39
times in current journal articles indexed by Clarivate
during January-February 2010. Only one other biology paper published in the
last two years, aside from reviews, attracted a higher number of citations
during that two-month period. Prior to the most recent bimonthly count,
citations to the paper have accrued as follows:
November-December 2009: 38 citations
September-October 2009: 21
July-August 2009: 25
May-June 2009: 24
March-April 2009: 24
January-February 2009: 14
November-December 2008: 15
September-October 2008: 5
July-August 2008: 6
Total citations to date: 211
SOURCE: Hot Papers Database (Included with a subscription to the print newsletter Science Watch®, available from the Research Services Group of Thomson Reuters. Packaged on a CD that is mailed with each Science Watch issue, the Hot Papers Database contains data on hundreds of highly cited papers published during the last two years. User interface permits searching by author, organization, journal, field, and more. Total citations, as well as citations accrued during successive bimonthly periods, can be assessed and graphed. An updated CD containing the most recent bimonthly data is mailed with every new issue of Science Watch, six times a year. The CD also includes an electronic version of the Science Watch issue in HTML format, for personal desktop access.