The immunoregulatory roles of transforming growth factor beta

Transforming growth factor-beta is a 25 kD polypeptide produced by both healthy and neoplastic cells. This cytokine effects the introduction of immune response, but its exact mechanism remains to be elucidated. In this paper the immuno-regulatory role of this cytokine on both the immunocompetent cells and accessory molecules is discussed. The growth factor-induced up and down regulation of the immune response suggest that transforming growth factor-beta can done some extent modulate certain pathological conditions, and hence suppressed production of this growth factor has potential benefits for bimodal immunotherapy.