Activin A is a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily, which we have identified as having a role in inflammatory responses. We show that circulating levels of activin increase rapidly after LPS-induced challenge through activation of Toll-like receptor 4 and the key adaptor protein, MyD88. Treatment with the activin-binding protein, follistatin, alters the profiles of TNF, IL...

OBJECTIVES We sought to investigate whether activin A could be involved in the immunopathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes. BACKGROUND Inflammatory mechanisms seem to play a pathogenic role in atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndromes, but the actual mediators have not been fully identified. Activin A, a pleiotropic member of the transforming growth factor-beta cytokine family, has rece...

Malignant ovarian epithelial tumors have been shown to have decreased inhibin production relative to activin production compared with normal ovarian surface epithelial (OSE) cells and nonmalignant ovarian tumors. Activin stimulates proliferation of many ovarian cancer cell lines. Inhibin antagonizes the action of activin, and inhibin-deficient mice develop gonadal tumors, suggesting that inhibi...

Activin A is a dimeric protein, member of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta family that plays a crucial role in wound repair and in fetal tolerance. Emerging evidence also proposes activin A as a key mediator in inflammation. This study reports that activin A induces the directional migration of immature myeloid dendritic cells (iDCs) through the activation of ALK4 and ActRIIA receptor ...

Activin A is a gonadal protein originally isolated from follicular fluid and is recognized as a local regulator of granulosa cell differentiation. Whether activin A promotes folliculogenesis, however, still remains unclarified. The present study was designed to elucidate the effect of activin A on follicular growth in in vitro follicle culture systems. Preantral follicles, 100-120 microm in dia...

Activins are multifunctional growth and differentiation factors, and stimulate follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-β gene expression and FSH secretion by the pituitary gonadotropes. Follistatins bind activin, resulting in the neutralization of activin bioactivity. Activin / follistatin system is present in the prostate tissue. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) plays an important role in male repro...

Inflammation serves a critical role in driving sympathetic neural remodeling following myocardial infarction (MI), and activin A has been implicated as an important mediator of the inflammatory response post‑MI. However, whether activin A impacts sympathetic neural remodeling post‑MI remains unclear. In the present study, the authors assessed the effects of activin A on sympathetic neural remod...

Activin A stimulated DNA synthesis and transient c-fos expression in quiescent Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. The activin A-induced DNA synthesis was dose-dependent with a half-maximal effect obtained at 0.3 nM. The maximal response obtained at 10 nM was comparable with that induced by 5 ng/ml basic fibroblast growth factor. Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts expressed abundant high affinity binding sites for 125I-...

BACKGROUND During implantation, the embryo adheres to the endometrium via cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) present on blastocyst trophectoderm and endometrial epithelial cells. CAMs, including integrins and extracellular matrix (ECM) ligands, are most likely regulated by hormones, cytokines and growth factors. We hypothesized first that activin A affects the adhesive properties of trophoblast cel...

Activin, nodal, Vg1, and growth and differentiation factor 1 are members of the transforming growth factor beta superfamily and signal via the activin type II (ActRII/IIB) and type I (ALK4) serine/threonine kinase receptors. Unlike activins, however, signaling by nodal, Vg1, and growth and differentiation factor 1 requires a coreceptor from the epidermal growth factor-Cripto-FRL1-Cryptic protei...