Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is a potent inhibitor of cellular growth and proliferation by G1 phase arrest or apoptosis. We investigated the association of TGF-beta1 with the anti-proliferative effect of upstream stimulatory factor (USF) in Fischer rat thyroid cell line (FRTL-5) cells. [methyl-(3)H] thymidine uptake was measured after treatment of FRTL-5 cells with TGF-beta1 to ...

OBJECTIVE Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) controls the expression of numerous genes, including smooth muscle cell (SMC)-specific genes and extracellular matrix protein genes. Here we investigated whether c-Src plays a role in TGF-beta1 signaling in mouse embryonic fibroblast C3H10T1/2 cells. METHODS AND RESULTS TGF-beta1 induction of the SMC contractile protein SM22alpha gene exp...

Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), a multi-functional cytokine, is involved in regulating a variety of cellular activities and the serum/plasma TGF-beta1 level is altered with various diseases. However, most published reports have described adult patients, and so we investigated the clinical significance of serum TGF-beta1 level in pediatric patients. The diagnostic application of th...

In the present study, we demonstrated that human skin cancers frequently overexpress TGF-beta1 but exhibit decreased expression of the TGF-beta type II receptor (TGF-(beta)RII). To understand how this combination affects cancer prognosis, we generated a transgenic mouse model that allowed inducible expression of TGF-beta(1) in keratinocytes expressing a dominant negative TGF-(beta)RII (Delta(be...

Thrombospondin 1 (TSP-1), which is contained in platelet alpha-granules and released with activation, has been shown to activate latent TGF-beta1 in vitro, but its in vivo role is unclear as TSP-1-null (Thbs1(-/-)) mice have a much less severe phenotype than TGF-beta1-null (Tgfb1(-/-)) mice. We recently demonstrated that stirring and/or shear could activate latent TGF-beta1 released from platel...

BACKGROUND The receptor tyrosine kinase c-kit is known to play an important role in the progression of gastrointestinal stromal tumors, but its biological significance in other solid malignancies is unclear. Recent publications have suggested a regulatory role for TGF-beta1 in c-kit-mediated cell growth. The present study assessed the clinicopathological significance of c-kit protein (KIT) and ...

Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) expression in smooth muscle cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, mechanisms that are involved in the regulation of TGF-beta1 gene expression in human airway smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) remain elusive. Here, we show that mechanical stretch of HASMCs augmented TGF-beta1 expression through a de novo RNA synthesis mec...

BACKGROUND Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) regulates hepatocyte proliferation and biosynthesis of the extracellular matrix. AIMS This study investigated alternations in sensitivity to TGF-beta1 and binding properties for ligand in hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells (HSC) after CCl(4) administration. METHODS Plasma TGF-beta1 levels in rats after CCl(4) administration were dete...

CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells inhibit organ-specific autoimmune diseases induced by CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells and are potent suppressors of T cell activation in vitro. Their mechanism of suppression remains unknown, but most in vitro studies suggest that it is cell contact-dependent and cytokine independent. The role of TGF-beta1 in CD4(+)CD25(+) suppressor function remains unclear. While most s...