Transforming growth factor, beta receptor I, also known as Transforming growth factor-beta receptor type I , Serine / threonine-protein kinase receptor R4, Activin receptor-like kinase 5, SKR4, ALK-5, and TGFBR1, is a single-pass type I membrane protein which belongs to the protein kinase superfamily and TGFB receptor subfamily. TGFBR1 / ALK-5 is found in all tissues examined. It is most abundant in placenta and least abundant in brain and heart. TGF-beta functions as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting the cell cycle in the G1 phase. Administration of TGF-beta is able to protect against mammary tumor development in transgenic mouse models in vivo. Disruption of the TGF-beta/SMAD pathway has been implicated in a variety of human cancers, with the majority of colon and gastric cancers being caused by an inactivating mutation of TGF-beta RII. On ligand binding, TGFBR1 / ALK-5 forms a receptor complex consisting of two type I I and two type I transmembrane serine/threonine kinases. Type II receptors phosphorylate and activate type I receptors which auto-phosphorylate, then bind and activate SMAD transcriptional regulators. TGF-beta signaling via TGFBR1 / ALK-5 is not required in myocardial cells during mammalian cardiac development, but plays an irreplaceable cell-autonomous role regulating cellular communication, differentiation and proliferation in endocardial and epicardial cells. Defects in TGFBR1 / ALK-5 are the cause of Loeys-Dietz syndrome type 1A (LDS1A), Loeys-Dietz syndrome type 2A (LDS2A), and aortic aneurysm familial thoracic type 5 (AAT5).