CDH5 and breast cancer: However, modulation of cell dynamics by VE-cadherin might be a function of tumor cell differentiation: on the one hand, the forced overexpression of VE-cadherin in poorly differentiated MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells profoundly changed the cellular phenotype from a more fibroblastoid to a more epithelial phenotype, indicative of mesenchymal-to epithelial transition (MET) [16]; on the other hand, overexpression of VE-cadherin in the differentiated and less aggressive MCF-7 cell line hardly affected their phenotype.