Description
The three mammalian isoforms of TGF-beta, TGF-beta1, TGF-beta2, TGF-beta3, signal through the same receptor and elicit similar biological responses. They are multifunctional cytokines that regulate cell proliferation, growth, differentiation, motility and synthesis and deposition of the extracellular matrix. They are involved in various physiological processes including embryogenesis, tissue remodeling and would healing. They are secreted predominantly as latent complexes which are stored at the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix. The release of biologically active TGF-beta isoform from a latent complex involves proteolytic processing of the complex and/or induction of conformational changes by proteins such as thrombospondin-1. TGF-beta2 has been shown to exert suppressive effects on IL-2 dependent T-cell growth. It may also have an autocrine function in enhancing tumor growth by suppressing immuno-surveillance of tumor development. Recombinant human TGF-beta2 is a 25kD protein composed of two identical 112 amino acid polypeptide chains linked by a single disulfide bond