Progress in Study on TGF-β/Smads Signal Transduction Pathway

Transforming growth factor(TGF)-β superfamily members have extensive biological effects.Great progress has been made in research on intracellular signaling through interaction of receptors with ligands.Especially,Smad proteins mediated signaling provides an important clue for illustrating the functions of TGF-β superfamily.In addition,TGF-β/Smads signaling is accurately regulated and there exists cross-talk effect between it and other signaling pathways.This review focused on the latest studies on the molecular mechanisms of TGF-β/Smads,main regulations in the Smads mediated TGF-β signaling and its function in maintaining physiological function and disease occurrence.