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SMAD4 and its role in pancreatic cancer

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Tumor Biology

30 November 2022 An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.3233/TUB-229004

Abstract

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) regulates cell functions and has key roles in pancreatic cancer development. SMAD4, as one of the Smads family of signal transducer from TGF-β, mediates pancreatic cell proliferation and apoptosis and is specifically inactivated in half of advanced pancreatic cancers. In recent years, many advances concerning SMAD4 had tried to unravel the complex signaling mechanisms of TGF-β and its dual role of tumor-suppressive and tumor-promoting efforts in pancreatic cancer initiation and progression through SMAD4-dependent TGF-β signaling and SMAD4-independent TGF-β signaling pathways. Meanwhile, its potential prognostic value based on immunohistochemical expression in surgical sample was variably reported by several studies and short of a systematic analysis. This review aimed to discuss the structure, functions, and regulation of this principal protein and its effects in determining the progression and prognosis of pancreatic cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81372640 (to QZJ)) and (No. 81101844 and No. 81210108027 (to C. Huang)), Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau (No. 2012040 and No. 13PJD024 (to C. Huang)), and Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau (No. XYQ2013092 (to C. Huang)). This is an original article and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. All of the authors contributed to the article and are aware of and agree to its submission for publication.

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Author’s contribution

XX, WW, CH, GC, TJ, and JC conceived and designed the study. XX, KH, and ZQ performed the experiments. XX and WW analyzed the data. XX and ZQ wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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  1. Department of General Surgery, Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated First People’s Hospital, 100 Hai Ning Road, Shanghai, 200080, People’s Republic of China

    Xiang Xia, Weidong Wu, Chen Huang, Gang Cen, Tao Jiang, Jun Cao, Kejian Huang & Zhengjun Qiu

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  1. Xiang Xia
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  2. Weidong Wu
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Correspondence to Zhengjun Qiu.

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Xiang Xia, Weidong Wu, and Chen Huang contributed equally to this article.

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Xia, X., Wu, W., Huang, C. et al. SMAD4 and its role in pancreatic cancer. Tumor Biol. 36, 111–119 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-014-2883-z

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