Epithelial-mesenchymal transition transcription factors and miRNAs: “Plastic surgeons” of breast cancer

Figure 2 Transcription factors and miRNA epithelial and mesenchymal expression networks in breast cancer. Through activation of different signaling pathways such as TGF-β, Notch or Hyppo pathways and the down-regulation of Dicer, epithelial cells undergo the epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Transcription factors and miRNAs act together to be the “plastic surgeons” of the epithelial or mesenchymal phenotype. Regulation networks between these two main actors drive cells to plasticity.