TGF beta signaling pathway

The transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) signaling pathway is involved in many cellular processes in both the adult organism and the developing embryo including cell growth, cell differentiation, cell migration, apoptosis, cellular homeostasis and other cellular functions. The TGFβ signaling pathways are conserved.[1] In spite of the wide range of cellular processes that the TGFβ signaling pathway regulates, the process is relatively simple. TGFβ superfamily ligands bind to a type II receptor, which recruits and phosphorylates a type I receptor. The type I receptor then phosphorylates receptor-regulated SMADs (R-SMADs) which can now bind the coSMAD SMAD4. R-SMAD/coSMAD complexes accumulate in the nucleus where they act as transcription factors and participate in the regulation of target gene expression.[2]

  1. ^ Huminiecki L, Goldovsky L, Freilich S, Moustakas A, Ouzounis C, Heldin CH (February 2009). "Emergence, development and diversification of the TGF-beta signalling pathway within the animal kingdom". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 9 (1): 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-28. PMC 2657120. PMID 19192293.
  2. ^ Zi, Zhike (2019-07-12). "Molecular Engineering of the TGF-β Signaling Pathway". Journal of Molecular Biology. 431 (15): 2644–2654. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2019.05.022. hdl:21.11116/0000-0003-F2A7-F. ISSN 1089-8638. PMID 31121181. S2CID 163166017.