Nature : Revealing SMAD2/3 Coordinator's Pluripotent Stem Cell Development

In order for cells and tissues to function properly, certain genes need to be turned on and off at the right time in response to growth factor signals from outside the cell. SMAD2 and SMAD3 (SMAD2/3)proteins are known SMAD3（to be an important part of thiscell signaling process, activated within the cell, opening and shutting down the genes required for many different processes, from embryonic development and growth to activating the immune system or cancer.
In a new study, researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom studied the interaction sMAD2/3 in cells --- that produce all tissues and organs of the human body --- sMAD2/3 and other proteins. They found that although SMAD2/3 did bind to transcription factors, they also interacted with proteins involved in a range of molecular processes in the cell to coordinate cell signaling transduction. The findings were published in the 3 March 8, 2018 issue of the journal Nature with the title "The SMAD2/3 interactome reveals that TGF beta controls m6A mRNA methylation in pluripotency".
For the first time, these researchers observed that SMAD2/3 activates RNA-edited RNA proteins, making specific mRNAs unstable and rapidly degraded. The role of SMAD2/3 is to associate cell signal transduction with RNA editing, allowing cells to turn on and subsequently shut down genes that are critical to development. Given that The activity of SMAD2/3 is regulated by growth factors, this study sheds light on a new way in which extracellular signals can control cell function.