Browsing by Subject "SMAD"

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    Smad3 phosphoisoform-mediated signaling during sporadic human colorectal carcinogenesis
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2006) Matsuzaki, K.
    Transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) signaling occurring during human colorectal carcinogenesis involves a shift in TGF-ß function, reducing the cytokine’s antiproliferative effect, while increasing actions that promote invasion and metastasis. TGF-ß signaling involves phosphorylation of Smad3 at serine residues 208 and 213 in the linker region and serine residues 423 and 425 in the C-terminal region. Exogenous TGF-ß activates not only TGF-ß type I receptor (TßRI) but also c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), changing unphosphorylated Smad3 to its phosphoisoforms: C-terminally phosphorylated Smad3 (pSmad3C) and linker phosphorylated Smad3 (pSmad3L). Either pSmad3C or pSmad3L oligomerizes with Smad4, and translocates into nuclei. While the TßRI/pSmad3C pathway inhibits growth of normal epithelial cells in vivo, JNK/pSmad3L-mediated signaling promotes tumor cell invasion and extracellular matrix synthesis by activated mesenchymal cells. Furthermore, hepatocyte growth factor signaling interacts with TGF-ß to activate the JNK/pSmad3L pathway, accelerating nuclear transport of cytoplasmic pSmad3L. This reduces accessibility of unphosphorylated Smad3 to membrane-anchored TßRI, preventing Smad3C phosphorylation, pSmad3Cmediated transcription, and antiproliferative effects of TGF-ß on epithelial cells. As neoplasia progresses from normal colorectal epithelium through adenoma to invasive adenocarcinoma with distant metastasis, nuclear pSmad3L gradually increases while pSmad3C decreases. The shift from TßRI/pSmad3C-mediated to JNK/pSmad3L-mediated signaling is a major mechanism orchestrating a complex transition of TGF-ß signaling during sporadic human colorectal carcinogenesis. This review summarizes the recent understanding of Smad3 phosphoisoform-mediated signaling, particularly “cross-talk” between Smad3 and JNK pathways that cooperatively promote oncogenic activities. Understanding of these actions should help to develop more effective therapy against human colorectal cancer, involving inhibition of JNK/pSmad3L pathway.
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    STAT and SMAD signaling in cancer
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2002) Iwamoto, T.; Oshima, K.; Senga, T.; Feng, X.; Oo, M.L.; Hamaguchi, M.; Matsuda, S.
    STAT and SMAD often exert opposite biological effects on diverse cellular functions. Recent studies have shown that STAT can interface with SMAD at molecular level and that some novel molecules, such as SOCS (also called CIS) and APRO6 (also called TOB), modulate this signaling. A cofactor p300/CBP might act as a bridging molecule to mediate the interface. Thus, STAT and SMAD signaling pathways may crosstalk each other with interweaved regulatory mechanisms. Interestingly, the importance of all the proteins’ function has been shown by the increasing evidence of their involvement in cancer. These recent progresses have been made in attributing novel exciting functions. Accordingly, we would like to review the latest advances of those pathways on a cross-section in cancer signaling.