The tumor microenvironment: A potential arbitrator of the tumor suppressive and promoting actions of TGFβ

Nancy Dumont, Carlos L. Arteaga

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) members are secreted in biologically inactive complexes that must be activated in order to enable binding to their cell surface receptors. Interestingly, many of the proteins that can activate TGFβ have been implicated in either suppressing or promoting tumorigenesis. Included among these are matrix proteins (thrombospondin-1), receptors (integrins αvβ6 and αvβ8) and proteases (matrix metalloproteases and plasmin). These proteins cannot only activate TGFβ, but can also modulate cell responsiveness to TGFβ. In this section, we review data highlighting the complexity and bidirectionality of TGFβ matrix interactions within the tumor microenvironment, and propose that these dynamic interactions are a critical spatial and temporal determinant of the effects of TGFβ on tumorigenesis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)574-582
Number of pages9
JournalDifferentiation
Volume70
Issue number9-10
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2002

Keywords

  • Extracellular matrix
  • Integrin
  • Latency-associated peptide
  • Matrix metalloproteinase
  • Plasmin
  • Thrombospondin
  • Transforming growth factor β

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Cancer Research

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