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:
“My role in society, or any artist or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.”
—John Lennon (1940–1980)
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—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)
“I wish more and more that health were studied half as much as disease is. Why, with all the endowment of research against cancer is no study made of those who are free from cancer? Why not inquire what foods they eat, what habits of body and mind they cultivate? And why never study animals in health and natural surroundings? why always sickened and in an environment of strangeness and artificiality?”
—Sarah N. Cleghorn (1976–1959)