PRACTICAL ONCOLOGY JOURNAL ›› 2015, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (5): 454-457.doi: 10.11904/j.issn.1002-3070.2015.05.015

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The progress on roles of TGF-β in tumour microenvironment

LIU Benkun, XU Shidong, SUN Dawei   

  1. Department of Thoracic Surgery,The Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Harbin Medical University,Harbin 150081,China
  • Received:2015-02-01 Online:2015-10-28 Published:2015-10-30

Abstract: The transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)pathway has been established as essential for cancer progression,because of its prominent role in the regulation of cell growth,differentiation and migration.Through the canonical and non-canonical arms of the signaling pathway,TGF-β instigates cellular phenotypical changes that mediate its role as both tumour suppressor and tumour promoter.TGF-β acts as a potent driver of cancer progression through the induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT),in which epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal phenotype,leading to enhanced motility and invasion.It is evidence of the TGF-β pathway being tumour suppressive.However,there is also evidence to the contrary,abrogation of TGF-β signalling in carcinoma cells can also result in increased metastasis.This review addresses the experiments about role of an essential signalling pathway,that of transforming growth factor-β,in the regulation of components of the tumour microenvironment and research of how this contributes to tumour progression.

Key words: Transforming growth factor-β, Tumor, Microenvironment, Signalling pathway

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