Actin Cytoskeleton and Regulation of TGF beta Signaling: Exploring Their Links

Human tissues, to maintain their architecture and function, respond to injuries by activating intricate biochemical and physical mechanisms that regulates intercellular communication crucial in maintaining tissue homeostasis. Coordination of the communication occurs through the activity of different actin cytoskeletal regulators, physically connected to extracellular matrix through integrins, generating a platform of biochemical and biomechanical signaling that is deregulated in cancer. Among the major pathways, a controller of cellular functions is the cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta), which remains a complex and central signaling network still to be interpreted and explained in cancer progression. Here, we discuss the link between actin dynamics and TGF beta signaling with the aim of exploring their aberrant interaction in cancer.

Automated summary

Human tissues respond to injuries through activating biochemical and physical mechanisms that regulate intercellular communication crucial for maintaining tissue homeostasis. The communication coordination occurs through actin cytoskeletal regulators physically connected to the extracellular matrix, generating a signaling platform deregulated in cancer. The cytokine TGF-β remains a complex and central signaling network in cancer progression, with its link to actin dynamics being explored for their aberrant interaction.