Strategies and challenges for systematically mapping biologically significant molecular pathways regulating carcinoma epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Enormous progress has been made towards understanding the role of specific factors in the process of epithelial-mesen- chymal transition (EMT); however, the complex underlying pathways and the transient nature of the transition contin- ues to present significant challenges. Targeting tumour cell plasticity underpinning EMT is an attractive strategy to com- bat metastasis. Global gene expression profiling and high- content analyses are among the strategies employed to identify novel EMT regulators. In this review, we highlight several approaches to systematically interrogate key path- ways involved in EMT, with particular emphasis on the fea- tures of multiparametric, high-content imaging screening strategies that lend themselves to the systematic discovery of highly significant modulators of tumour cell plasticity.