Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 6

SMAD family member 6, also known as SMAD6, is a is_associated_with::protein that in humans is encoded by the SMAD6 is_associated_with::gene.

SMAD6 is a protein that, as its name describes, is a homolog of the is_associated_with::Drosophila gene "is_associated_with::mothers against decapentaplegic". It belongs to the SMAD family of proteins, which belong to the TGFβ superfamily of modulators. Like many other TGFβ family members SMAD6 is involved in is_associated_with::cell signalling. It acts as a regulator of TGFβ family (such as is_associated_with::bone morphogenetic proteins) activity by competing with is_associated_with::SMAD4 and preventing the transcription of is_associated_with::SMAD4's gene products. There are two known isoforms of this protein.

Nomenclature
The SMAD proteins are homologs of both the drosophila protein, mothers against decapentaplegic (MAD) and the C. elegans protein SMA. The name is a combination of the two. During Drosophila research, it was found that a mutation in the gene MAD in the mother repressed the gene is_associated_with::decapentaplegic in the embryo. The phrase "Mothers against" was added since mothers often form organizations opposing various issues, e.g., is_associated_with::Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD.

Interactions
Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 6 has been shown to interact with:
 * is_associated_with::HOXC8,
 * is_associated_with::MAP3K7,
 * is_associated_with::Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 7,
 * is_associated_with::PIAS4, and
 * is_associated_with::STRAP.