Role in Cancer
A mutation located in SMAD7 gene is a cause of susceptibility to colorectal cancer (CRC) type 3. Perturbation of Smad7 and suppression of TGF-β signaling was found to be evolved in CRC. Case control studies and meta-analysis in Asian and European populations also provided evidence that this mutation is associated with colorectal cancer risk.
TGF-β is one of the important growth factor in pancreatic cancer. By controlling the TGF-β pathway, smad7 is believed to be related to this disease. Some previous study showed over-expression of Smad7 in pancreatic cells but there was a recent study showed a low Smad7 expression. The role of Smad7 in pancreatic cancer is still controversial.
Over-expression or constitutive activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) can promote tumor processes. EGF-induced MMP-9 expression enhance tumor invasion and metastasis in some kinds of tumor cells such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Smad7 exerts an inhibitory effect on EGF signaling pathway. Therefore it may play a role in prevention of cancer metastasis.
Read more about this topic: Mothers Against Decapentaplegic Homolog 7
Famous quotes containing the words role in, role and/or cancer:
“Language makes it possible for a child to incorporate his parents’ verbal prohibitions, to make them part of himself....We don’t speak of a conscience yet in the child who is just acquiring language, but we can see very clearly how language plays an indispensable role in the formation of conscience. In fact, the moral achievement of man, the whole complex of factors that go into the organization of conscience is very largely based upon language.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)
“But however the forms of family life have changed and the number expanded, the role of the family has remained constant and it continues to be the major institution through which children pass en route to adulthood.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)
“The truth is that Mozart, Pascal, Boolean algebra, Shakespeare, parliamentary government, baroque churches, Newton, the emancipation of women, Kant, Marx, and Balanchine ballets don’t redeem what this particular civilization has wrought upon the world. The white race is the cancer of human history.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)