Furthermore, in rat prostatic epithelial cells, Smad2 was shown to be critical for the proapoptotic effect of TGFβ in a premalignant basal cell line (NRP152), while Smad3 mediated the apoptotic response in a malignant luminal carcinoma cell line (NRP154) derived from the same rat prostate [43]. This evidence concerns the gene SMAD2 and carcinoma.