title: The roles of TGF-β signaling in carcinogenesis and breast cancer metastasis.
abstract: Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) ligand is a multifunctional growth factor that regulates various cell behavior, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis. Because TGF-β is a potent growth inhibitor, abnormalities in TGF-β signaling result in carcinogenesis. In addition to tumor suppressor function, TGF-β acts as an oncogenic factor. In particular, TGF-β signaling plays an important role during metastasis of breast cancer. Recently, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to confer malignant properties such as cell motility and invasiveness to cancer cells and plays crucial roles during cancer metastasis. Moreover, breast stem-like cells exhibit EMT properties. Because TGF-β is a potent regulator of EMT as well as cell stemness, TGF-β signaling might play a crucial role in the regulation of breast cancer stem cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine for Pathogenesis, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Shitsukawa, Toon, Japan. timamura-ind@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.forename: Atsuhiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hikita
authors.forename: Yasumichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta