title: Transforming growth factor-beta in cardiac ontogeny and adaptation.
abstract: The transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily comprises a set of regulatory peptides with multiple effects on cell growth and differentiation. The elaborate regulation of TGF-beta s during embryonic development of the heart, the upregulation of TGF-beta after hemodynamic stress, and the impact of TGF-beta on cardiac gene expression together imply a prominent functional role for this family of growth factors in cardiac organogenesis and hypertrophy. Basal and TGF-beta-induced expression of skeletal alpha-actin, one of several genes specifically associated with developing or hypertrophied myocardium, each are contingent on transcriptional activation by serum response factor. A truncated form of the type II TGF-beta receptor, created by deletion of the cytoplasmic kinase domain, acts as a dominant suppressor of TGF-beta signal transduction in cultured cardiac muscle cells and may provide a suitable means to establish the functions of TGF-beta in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex. 77030.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: MacLellan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009024:Morphogenesis; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000209:etiology; D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018125:Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta