Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 15, 2025

Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells
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Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells

Published on: October 27, 2020

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Transforming Growth Factor-β: An Agent of Change in the Tumor Microenvironment

Christina H Stuelten1, Ying E Zhang1

  • 1Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States.

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
|October 29, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) regulates development and tissue repair. In cancer, TGF-β initially inhibits tumors but later promotes progression and metastasis by altering cell differentiation and metabolism.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) is crucial for development, tissue repair, and homeostasis.
  • TGF-β exhibits dual roles in tumorigenesis: inhibiting early stages and promoting late-stage progression and metastasis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the multifaceted roles of TGF-β and its signaling pathways in tumorigenesis.
  • To elucidate how TGF-β signaling drives tumor progression through cellular and metabolic reprogramming.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on TGF-β signaling in cancer.
  • Analysis of TGF-β's impact on cell differentiation, immune cell polarization, and metabolic reprogramming.

Main Results:

  • TGF-β signaling induces a myofibroblastoid phenotype in epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts.
  • TGF-β alters immune cell differentiation and polarization, favoring tumor progression.
  • TGF-β promotes metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, supporting tumor growth and metastasis.

Conclusions:

  • TGF-β signaling is a critical driver of epithelial tumor progression and metastasis.
  • Targeting TGF-β pathways may offer therapeutic strategies for epithelial cancers.
Keywords:
EMT—epithelial to mesenchymal transitionEndMT—endothelial to mesenchymal transitionTGF-βcancer associated fibroblast (CAF)metabolic reprogrammingtolerogenic differentiationtumor-stromal crosstalk

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