ectopic pregnancy (ep) is the most important cause of maternal death in the first trimester accounting for 9 - 13% of all pregnancy-related deaths (1). despite the use of transvaginal sonography and high sensitive quantitative beta-hcg assays for diagnosis, nearly 40-50% of all eps may be initially misdiagnosed (2). therefore, several biomarkers have been investigated for early diagnosis of ep....

The activin/follistatin system is implicated in growth and differentiation of various cell types. Follistatin (FS), through binding and neutralizing activin, plays a major role in the regulation of activin bioavailability. We previously reported that ovarian PA1 cells constitutively secrete FS and show a decreased proliferation rate in response to exogenous activin only if cell surface associat...

The effect of activins AB and B on DNA synthesis stimulated by epidermal growth factor (EGF) was studied in primary cultured rat hepatocytes and compared with the effect of activin A, a suppressor of DNA synthesis. Activin AB inhibited DNA synthesis as assessed by [3H]thymidine incorporation. The inhibition by activin AB was detected at 6 ng/ml, and the 12.5 ng/ml concentration produced almost ...

The effect of activins A, AB, and B on hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) synthesis stimulated by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol beta-acetate (TPA) was studied in MRC-5 human lung fibroblasts. Activins A, AB, and B inhibited the increase in HGF secretion induced by TPA in different dose-dependent manners and potencies. At 5 ng/ml, activins A and AB inhibited the increase approximately 30% and 10%, respe...

Deregulated expression of activin A is reported in several tumors, but its biological functions in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are unknown. Here, we investigate whether activin A can play a causal role in OSCCs. Activin A expression was assessed by qPCR and immunohistochemistry in OSCC tissues. Low activin A-expressing cells were treated with recombinant activin A and assessed for apopt...

Activin A, a member of the TGF-beta superfamily, is a pluripotent growth and differentiation factor. In this study, we report that murine Th cells produce activin A upon activation. Activin activity in the cultured CD4+ T cells was induced by anti-CD3 cross-linking. Activin betaA mRNA level was increased in response to activation, indicating that activin production in CD4+ T cells is regulated ...

Activin A is a dimeric protein hormone that regulates numerous cellular functions. A clear physiological role for this molecule in pregnancy is suggested by previous studies in the human, wherein activin A rises dramatically as women approach parturition. To determine whether the rodent is a suitable animal model for further studies of activin action during pregnancy, the serum concentration of...

Activin A (a homodimer of two activin betaA subunits) has been shown to induce the neuronal differentiation of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. We studied activin A and its receptor gene expression in human pheochromocytomas in vivo and in vitro to clarify the potential involvement of activin A in the pathophysiology of these tumors. We first screened 20 pheochromocytomas and nine normal adrena...

The functions of activin, a member of TGF-beta superfamily, in ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma remain unsolved, although we recently found that inhibin betaA-subunit, activin A, activin receptor type IA, type IB, type IIA, type IIB, Smad2, Smad3 and Smad4 were localized in tumor cells of the ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma tissue by immunohistochemistry. In the present study, in order to in...

Activin B is induced in response to inflammation in the liver and enhances hepcidin expression, but the source of activin B and the molecular mechanism underlying hepcidin induction are not clear yet. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation induced inhibin βB but not inhibin α or inhibin βA expression in the liver, implicating activin B induction. Immunoreactive inhibin βB was detected in...