Activin A and betacellulin (BTC) are thought to regulate differentiation of pancreatic beta-cells during development and regeneration of beta-cells in adults. In the present study, we used neonatal rats treated with streptozotocin (STZ) to investigate the effects of activin A and BTC on regeneration of pancreatic beta-cells. One-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with STZ (85 micro g/g) ...

The secreted growth factor Activin-A of the transforming growth factor β family and its receptors can promote or inhibit several cancer hallmarks including tumor cell proliferation and differentiation, vascularization, lymphangiogenesis and inflammation. However, a role in immune evasion and its relationship with tumor-induced muscle wasting and tumor vascularization, and the relative contribut...

It has long been proposed that excitotoxicity contributes to nerve cell death in neurodegenerative diseases. Activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily, is expressed by neurons following excitotoxicity. We show for the first time that this activin A expression is essential for neurogenesis to proceed following neurodegeneration. We found that intraventricular infusio...

Pain hypersensitivity is a cardinal sign of tissue damage, but how molecules from peripheral tissues affect sensory neuron physiology is incompletely understood. Previous studies have shown that activin A increases after peripheral injury and is sufficient to induce acute nociceptive behavior and increase pain peptides in sensory ganglia. This study was designed to test the possibility that the...

A recent study has revealed that fear memory may be vulnerable following retrieval, and is then reconsolidated in a protein synthesis-dependent manner. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of these processes. Activin betaA, a member of the TGF-beta superfamily, is increased in activated neuronal circuits and regulates dendritic spine morphology. To clarify the role of activin...

The biological function of the inhibin-α subunit (INHA) in gonadal tumorigenesis is different in humans compared with mouse. The INHA subunit is up-regulated in most human ovarian and testicular cancers but knock-out studies in mice showed the INHA subunit is a tumour suppressor with gonadal and adrenal specificity. The INHA subunit is a component of the inhibin/activin signalling pathway, whic...

Factors underlying growth regulation in human pituitary tumors are largely unknown. Activin functions as an antiproliferative cytokine in a number of cell types and is endogenously expressed in normal and neoplastic human pituicytes. We investigated the effect of activin on proliferation in 16 clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas in primary culture. Treatment for 24 h with activin (0-10...

Activins C and E (homodimers of the betaC and betaE subunits), which are almost exclusively expressed in the liver, are members of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) superfamily of growth factors. We examined their expression in three different hepatoma cell lines and found that, compared with normal liver or primary hepatocytes, human hepatoblastoma (HepG2), human hepatocellular car...

Burger LL, Haisenleder DJ, Wotton GM, Aylor KW, Dalkin AC, Marshall JC. The regulation of FSH transcription by gonadal steroids: testosterone and estradiol modulation of the activin intracellular signaling pathway. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 293: E277–E285, 2007. First published April 3, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00447.2006.—Recent reports suggest that androgens increase FSH transcription di...

BACKGROUND Activin A released from epicardial adipose tissue has been linked to contractile dysfunction and insulin resistance in cardiomyocytes. This study investigated the role of activin A in clinical diabetic cardiomyopathy by assessing whether circulating activin A levels associate with cardiometabolic parameters in men with uncomplicated type 2 diabetes (T2D), and the effects of treatment...