{rfName}
Di

Indexed in

License and use

Citations

153

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Cuatrecasas, MAuthorPostigo, ACorresponding Author

Share

Publications
>
Article

Different thresholds of ZEB1 are required for Ras-mediated tumour initiation and metastasis

Publicated to:Nature Communications. 5 (5660): 5660- - 2014-12-01 5(5660), DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6660

Authors: Liu, Yongqing; Lu, Xiaoqin; Huang, Li; Wang, Wei; Jiang, Guomin; Dean, Kevin C; Clem, Brian; Telang, Sucheta; Jenson, Alfred B; Cuatrecasas, Miriam; Chesney, Jason; Darling, Douglas S; Postigo, Antonio; Dean, Douglas C

Affiliations

ICREA, Barcelona 08010, Spain - Author
IDIBAPS, Tumor Bank Biobank, Barcelona 08036, Spain - Author
Inst Invest Biomed August Pi & Sunyer IDIBAPS, Grp Transcript Regulat Gene Express, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Ctr Diagnost Biomed CDB Hosp Clin, Dept Pathol, E-08036 Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Louisville, Dept Periodont Endodont & Dent Hyg, Louisville, KY 40202 USA - Author
Univ Louisville, Hlth Sci Ctr, Birth Defects Ctr, Louisville, KY 40202 USA - Author
Univ Louisville, Hlth Sci Ctr, Dept Ophthalmol & Visual Sci, Louisville, KY 40202 USA - Author
Univ Louisville, Hlth Sci Ctr, Mol Targets Program, James Brown Canc Ctr, Louisville, KY 40202 USA - Author
Zejiang Univ, Coll Agr & Biotechnol, Zejiang 310058, Peoples R China - Author
See more

Abstract

Ras pathway mutation is frequent in carcinomas where it induces expression of the transcriptional repressor ZEB1. Although ZEB1 is classically linked to epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumour metastasis, it has an emerging second role in generation of cancer-initiating cells. Here we show that Ras induction of ZEB1 is required for tumour initiation in a lung cancer model, and we link this function to repression Pten, whose loss is critical for emergence of cancer-initiating cells. These two roles for ZEB1 in tumour progression can be distinguished by their requirement for different levels of ZEB1. A lower threshold of ZEB1 is sufficient for cancer initiation, whereas further induction is necessary for tumour metastasis.

Keywords

cancermouse modelsmutationspten phosphatasesarcomasignaling pathwaytargeting zeb1transcription factorzinc-fingerAdenocarcinomaAdenomaAnimalsCell transformation, neoplasticDisease models, animalEpithelial-mesenchymal transitionGene expression regulation, neoplasticHomeodomain proteinsHras protein, mouseKruppel-like transcription factorsLung neoplasmsMiceNeoplasm metastasisPhosphatidylinositol 3-kinaseProto-oncogene proteins p21(ras)Pten phosphohydrolasePten protein, mouseRna, messengerZeb1 protein, mouseZinc finger e-box-binding homeobox 1

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Nature Communications due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2014, it was in position 3/57, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Multidisciplinary Sciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.37. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.92 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 10.48 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-11, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 51
  • Scopus: 60
  • Europe PMC: 42
  • OpenCitations: 63

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-11:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 66.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 65 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: China; United States of America.

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Postigo, Antonio.