Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 5 also known as SMAD5 is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''SMAD5''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

. SMAD5, as its name describes, is a homolog of the

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' () is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many speci ...

gene: " Mothers against decapentaplegic", based on a tradition of such unusual naming within the gene research community."Sonic Hedgehog, DICER, and the Problem With Naming Genes"
Sep 26, 2014, Michael White. psmag.com It belongs to the SMAD family of proteins, which belong to the

TGFβ Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is a multifunctional cytokine belonging to the transforming growth factor superfamily that includes three different mammalian isoforms (TGF-β 1 to 3, HGNC symbols TGFB1, TGFB2, TGFB3) and many other sig ...

superfamily of modulators. Like many other TGFβ family members SMAD5 is involved in cell signalling and modulates signals of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP's). The binding of ligands causes the

oligomerization In chemistry and biochemistry, an oligomer () is a molecule that consists of a few repeating units which could be derived, actually or conceptually, from smaller molecules, monomers.Quote: ''Oligomer molecule: A molecule of intermediate relativ ...

and phosphorylation of the SMAD5 protein. SMAD5 is a receptor regulated SMAD ( R-SMAD) and is activated by bone morphogenetic protein type 1 receptor kinase. It may play a role in the pathway where TGFβ is an inhibitor of hematopoietic progenitor cells.

References

Developmental genes and proteins MH1 domain MH2 domain R-SMAD Transcription factors Human proteins {{molecular-cell-biology-stub