title: TGF-β - an excellent servant but a bad master.
abstract: The transforming growth factor (TGF-β) family of growth factors controls an immense number of cellular responses and figures prominently in development and homeostasis of most human tissues. Work over the past decades has revealed significant insight into the TGF-β signal transduction network, such as activation of serine/threonine receptors through ligand binding, activation of SMAD proteins through phosphorylation, regulation of target genes expression in association with DNA-binding partners and regulation of SMAD activity and degradation. Disruption of the TGF-β pathway has been implicated in many human diseases, including solid and hematopoietic tumors. As a potent inhibitor of cell proliferation, TGF-β acts as a tumor suppressor; however in tumor cells, TGF-β looses anti-proliferative response and become an oncogenic factor. This article reviews current understanding of TGF-β signaling and different mechanisms that lead to its impairment in various solid tumors and hematological malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Babak Myeloma Group, Department of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, 625 00, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kubiczkova
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sedlarikova
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hajek
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sevcikova
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta