Down-regulation ofE-cadherin expression is a determinant of tumor cell invasiveness, an
event frequently associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transitions. Here we show that the
mouse E12/E47 basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor (the E2A gene product) acts as a
repressor of E-cadherin expression and triggers epithelial-mesenchymal transitions. The
mouse E47 factor was isolated in a one-hybrid system designed to isolate repressors of the
mouse E-cadherin promoter. Epithelial cells ectopically expressing E47adopt a fibroblastic …