The Effects of TGF-β Signaling on Cancer Cells and Cancer Stem Cells in the Bone Microenvironment.

Our results indicated that the bone micro-E is a key niche for CSC generation, and TGF-β signaling has important roles in generating CSCs and tumor cell proliferation in the bone micro-E. Therefore, it is critically important to evaluate responses to chemotherapeutic agents on both cancer stem cells and proliferating tumor cells in different tumor microenvironments in vivo.