Title: reciprocal mesenchymal-epithelial interaction
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - reciprocal mesenchymal-epithelial interaction
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11165
Status: current

Definition
Process in tissue or organ development in which epithelium induces changes in the mesenchyme and the mesenchyme also induces changes in the epithelium, through paracrine signaling.

Note
An example occurs during development of the prostate, in which mesenchyme of the urogenital sinus influences differentiation and patterning of the prostatic epithelium, and the developing epithelium induces prostatic mesenchymal cells to differentiate into smooth muscle and other prostatic stromal cells.

Related Terms
- epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10675
- epithelium: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10674
- mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10941
- mesenchyme: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10942
- paracrine: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11065
- prostate: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11145
- stromal cells: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11264
- urogenital sinus: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11345

Source
- PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 799 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-1202)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11165/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11165/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11165/xml

Citation: Citation: 'reciprocal mesenchymal-epithelial interaction' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11165
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-15T09:56:33+00:00