The logic of TGFβ signaling

Massagué, Joan; Gomis, Roger R.

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2006.04.033

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Volume 580, Issue 12 , Pages 2811-2820, 22 May 2006

The logic of TGFβ signaling

Edited by Horst Feldmann

Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, P.O. Box 116, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA

Received 5 April 2006; accepted 8 April 2006. published online 21 April 2006.

Abstract

The identification of the TGFβ cytokine signaling pathway, including membrane receptor serine/threonine kinases and Smad transcription factors as their substrates, has allowed the delineation of a process for conversion of these signals into programs of gene activation and repression that underlie critical cell fate and developmental decisions. The deconstruction of one of these responses – the cell cycle arrest response – into its elemental molecular parts has shed light into the mechanisms used by tumors to evade surveillance and cause metastasis.

Abbreviations: TGFβ, transforming growth factor β, BMP, bone morphogenetic protein, CDK, cyclin-dependent kinase

Keywords: TGFβ, Smad transcription factor, Receptor serine/threonine kinase, Cell cycle, Cyclin-dependent kinase, Cytostasis, Tumor suppressor, Cancer, Metastasis