TGF-beta receptor inactivation and mutant Kras induce intestinal neoplasms in mice via a beta-catenin-independent pathway.

During colorectal cancer pathogenesis, mutations and epigenetic events cause neoplastic behavior in epithelial cells by deregulating the Wnt, Ras-Raf-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta-signaling pathways, among others. The TGF-beta-signaling pathway is often inactivated in colon cancer cells by mutations in the gene encoding the TGF-beta receptor TGFBR2. The RAS-RAF-ERK pathway is frequently up-regulated in colon cancer via mutational activation of KRAS or BRAF. We assessed how these pathways interact in vivo and affect formation of colorectal tumors.