title: TGF-beta signaling in mammary gland development and tumorigenesis.
abstract: Ligands of the TGF-beta superfamily are unique in that they signal through transmembrane receptor serine-threonine kinases, rather than tyrosine kinases. The receptor complex couples to a signal transduction pathway involving a novel family of proteins, the Smads. On phosphorylation, Smads translocate to the nucleus where they modulate transcriptional responses. However, TGF-betas can also activate the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)4 pathway, and the different biological responses to TGF-beta depend to varying degrees on activation of either or both of these two pathways. The Smad pathway is a nexus for cross-talk with other signal transduction pathways and for modulation by many different interacting proteins. Despite compelling evidence that TGF-beta has tumor suppressor activity in the mammary gland, neither TGF-beta receptors nor Smads are genetically inactivated in human breast cancer, though receptor expression is reduced. Possible reasons are discussed in relation to the dual role of TGF-beta as tumor suppressor and oncogene.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Regulation and Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. wakefiel@dce41.nci.nih.gov
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Piek
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Böttinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001940:Breast / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta