ACTA1 and cancer: During the activation of the EMT process, cancer cells can shed their epithelial characteristics and become invasive by inducing the expression of EMT transcriptional factors such as Slug, Snail, and Smad 2/3 and mesenchymal markers like α-SMA, N-cadherin, and Vimentin while repressing the expression of epithelial markers epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) [84].