Background information
BAMBI is a membrane spanning glycoprotein that acts as a negative regulator of TGF-beta signaling during development. The BAMBI family of proteins are related to type I TGF-beta receptor family, however, BAMBI is a pseudoreceptor that lacks an intracellular serine/threonine kinase domain. BAMBI transcription regulation is under the influence of beta-catenin, BMP, smad3 and smad4. BAMBI expression can increase in colorectal and hepatocellular carcinomas relative to non-cancerous tissues. BAMBI is expressed at high levels during odontogenesis. BAMBI is coexpressed with Bmp-4 during early Xenopus embryogenesis and can be detected in poorly metastatic human melanoma cell lines.