Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4

The MAD homolog 4 (also: co - SMAD of common SMAD ) is a protein in the cytosol of animal cells. It participates in signal transduction in several signaling pathways, particularly in the TGF- β signaling pathway and the BMP signaling pathway. In the course of these pathways co - SMA bound to SMAD 1 and 2, whereby the trimer is changed from the cytosol to the nucleus and interacts there with transcription factors. These processes can control the embryonic and adult Zellsprossung and cell differentiation and play a role in many diseases. Mutations in the SMAD4 gene can lead to the interruption of these pathways and thus to uncontrolled cell division, which is why co - SMAD also has the obsolete name of a tumor suppressor. co - SMAD mutations are associated with colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, juvenile polyposis syndrome ( JPS ), as well as a combined syndrome of JPS and Osler.

The acronym MAD comes from the fruit fly research, where a homolog of the protein was first discovered.

Human Genome Organisation Digital Object Identifier
195020
de