Interleukin-like EMT inducer (ILEI, <i>FAM3C</i>) is a secreted factor that contributes to the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a cell-biological process that confers metastatic properties to a tumor cell.
Initially, we found that ILEI mRNA is highly expressed in melanoma metastases but not in primary tumors, suggesting that ILEI contributes to the malignant properties of melanoma.
The FAM3C interleukin-like epithelial-to-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) inducer (ILEI) has been shown to be strongly up-regulated in several cancers and to be essential for tumor formation and metastasis in epithelial cells, correlating with a significant decrease in overall survival in colon and breast cancer patients.
Clinically, human HCC samples showed granular or cytoplasmic localization of ILEI correlating with well and poorly differentiated tumors, respectively.