Inhibiting mutations in the transforming growth factor beta type 2 receptor in recurrent human breast cancer.

Members of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) family are potent inhibitors of the growth of many epithelial cell types. Transmembrane signaling by TGF-beta occurs via a complex of the serine/threonine kinases TGF-beta type 1 receptor and TGF-beta type 2 receptor (TGFBR2), and inactivating mutations in the latter have recently been detected in some primary tumors and in several types of tumor-derived cell lines. The most common...