Follistatin-free activin A is not associated with preterm birth.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2002 Mar;186(3):464-9
Authors: Wang EY, Woodruff TK, Moawad A,
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether follistatin-free activin A (an inhibin-related protein with rising serum levels before term labor) is associated with spontaneous preterm birth in an outpatient population. STUDY…
Inhibin binding protein (InhBP/p120), betaglycan, and the continuing search for the inhibin receptor.
Mol Endocrinol. 2002 Feb;16(2):207-12
Authors: Bernard DJ, Chapman SC, Woodruff TK
Betaglycan (the TGFbeta type III receptor) and InhBP/p120 (a membrane-tethered proteoglycan) were recently identified as putative inhibin receptors. Here, we review the current state of knowledge regarding these two proteins with respect to their…
Role of inhibins and activins in ovarian cancer.
Cancer Treat Res. 2002;107:293-302
Authors: Woodruff TK
PMID: 11775457 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Production and purification of recombinant human inhibin and activin.
J Endocrinol. 2002 Jan;172(1):199-210
Authors: Pangas SA, Woodruff TK
Inhibin and activin are protein hormones with diverse physiological roles including the regulation of pituitary FSH secretion. Like other members of the transforming growth factor-beta gene family, they undergo processing from larger precursor molecules as well as assembly into functional…
An emerging role for co-receptors in inhibin signal transduction.
Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001 Jun 30;180(1-2):55-62
Authors: Bernard DJ, Chapman SC, Woodruff TK
While many transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) superfamily ligands such as TGFbeta, activin, and the bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs) are critical to the control of growth, differentiation, and cell fate, inhibin has a more limited role and…
Inhibin binding protein in rats: alternative transcripts and regulation in the pituitary across the estrous cycle.
Mol Endocrinol. 2001 Apr;15(4):654-67
Authors: Bernard DJ, Woodruff TK
Inhibin binding protein (InhBP) and the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) type III receptor, beta glycan, have been identified as putative inhibin coreceptors. Here we cloned the InhBP cDNA in rats and predict…
Modulation of activin signal transduction by inhibin B and inhibin-binding protein (INhBP).
Mol Endocrinol. 2001 Apr;15(4):668-79
Authors: Chapman SC, Woodruff TK
An antagonistic relationship between inhibin and activin is essential to the control of pituitary FSH release and to normal gonadal function. Two inhibin ligands, inhibin A and inhibin B, are made by the ovary in females, and…
Mechanisms of inhibin signal transduction.
Recent Prog Horm Res. 2001;56:417-50
Authors: Bernard DJ, Chapman SC, Woodruff TK
Inhibin was first identified as a gonadal hormone that potently inhibits pituitary follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) synthesis and secretion. Although the notion of a nonsteroidal, gonadally derived inhibitory substance was realized in the early 1930s (McCullagh, 1932), identification of the hormone was…
Ovarian follicular concentrations of activin, follistatin, inhibin, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), IGF-II, IGF-binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2), IGFBP-3, and vascular endothelial growth factor in spontaneous menstrual cycles of normal women of advanced reproductive age.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000 Dec;85(12):4520-5
Authors: Klein NA, Battaglia DE, Woodruff TK, Padmanabhan V, Giudice LC, Bremner WJ, Soules MR
Previous studies indicate that…
Activin signal transduction pathways.
Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2000 Oct;11(8):309-14
Authors: Pangas SA, Woodruff TK
Many of the signal transduction pathways required for mammalian endocrine cell function are conserved from flies and worms. These model organisms permitted the illumination of the biological properties of ligands and provided systems in which cellular coactivating molecules could be identified rapidly. Our knowledge…
Insertion of Inhbb into the Inhba locus rescues the Inhba-null phenotype and reveals new activin functions.
Nat Genet. 2000 Aug;25(4):453-7
Authors: Brown CW, Houston-Hawkins DE, Woodruff TK, Matzuk MM
The activins (dimers of betaA or betaB subunits, encoded by the genes Inhba and Inhbb, respectively) are TGF-beta superfamily members that have roles in reproduction and development. Whereas mice…
Structure and expression of a membrane component of the inhibin receptor system.
Endocrinology. 2000 Jul;141(7):2600-7
Authors: Chong H, Pangas SA, Bernard DJ, Wang E, Gitch J, Chen W, Draper LB, Cox ET, Woodruff TK
The purification and cloning of a membrane-anchored proteoglycan with affinity for inhibin A are described. Bovine pituitary membranes were isolated, and membrane-anchored proteins were…
Activin A-induced HepG2 liver cell apoptosis: involvement of activin receptors and smad proteins.
Endocrinology. 2000 Mar;141(3):1263-72
Authors: Chen W, Woodruff TK, Mayo KE
A balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis is important for regulating normal liver function. Proteins of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily are known to be important mediators of apoptosis in the liver. In this study…
Transgenic models to study gonadotropin function: the role of follicle-stimulating hormone in gonadal growth and tumorigenesis.
Mol Endocrinol. 1999 Jun;13(6):851-65
Authors: Kumar TR, Palapattu G, Wang P, Woodruff TK, Boime I, Byrne MC, Matzuk MM
The role of FSH in gonadal tumorigenesis and, in particular, in human ovarian cancer has been debated. It is also unclear what role…
Preoperative serum level of inhibin A is an independent prognostic factor for the survival of postmenopausal women with epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
Cancer. 1999 Jan 15;85(2):465-71
Authors: Frias AE, Li H, Keeney GL, Podratz KC, Woodruff TK
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic significance of preoperative serum inhibin and activin levels in postmenopausal women…
Hope, hypothesis, and the inhibin receptor. Does specific inhibin binding suggest there is a specific inhibin receptor?
Endocrinology. 1999 Jan;140(1):3-5
Authors: Woodruff TK
PMID: 9886799 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Identification of naturally occurring follistatin complexes in human biological fluids.
Biol Reprod. 1999 Jan;60(1):8-13
Authors: Wang EY, Draper LB, Lee E, Polak A, Sluss P, Weiss J, Woodruff TK
Follistatin (FS) binds activin and inhibin proteins. Many organs are sensitive to activin and inhibin; thus the formation of FS-activin/inhibin complexes is important to our understanding of ligand activity.…
Editorial: Hope, Hypothesis, and the Inhibin Receptor. Does Specific Inhibin Binding Suggest There Is a Specific Inhibin Receptor?
Endocrinology. 1999 Jan 01;140(1):3-5
Authors: Woodruff TK
PMID: 28200576 [PubMed]
Regulation of cellular and system function by activin.
Biochem Pharmacol. 1998 Apr 1;55(7):953-63
Authors: Woodruff TK
Activin is an important molecule that regulates hormonogenesis, cellular homeostasis (divide or die pathways), and differentiation programs (developmentally and in adult cells). The cellular mechanisms that integrate an activin signal into a physiological response include a binary receptor complex and tandem serine…
Cellular localization of mRNA and protein: in situ hybridization histochemistry and in situ ligand binding.
Methods Cell Biol. 1998;57:333-51
Authors: Woodruff TK
Powerful methods for the detection of mRNA and proteins in cells and tissue sections have been developed since the mid-1980s. This chapter discusses the applications of in situ hybridization histochemistry and in situ ligand binding to…
Identification of an inhibin receptor in gonadal tumors from inhibin alpha-subunit knockout mice.
J Biol Chem. 1998 Jan 2;273(1):398-403
Authors: Draper LB, Matzuk MM, Roberts VJ, Cox E, Weiss J, Mather JP, Woodruff TK
Inhibins and activins are dimeric proteins that are functional antagonists and are structurally related to the transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) family of growth and…
Role of androgens in testicular tumor development in inhibin-deficient mice.
Endocrinology. 1997 Nov;138(11):5000-5
Authors: Shou W, Woodruff TK, Matzuk MM
To understand gonadal tumor development, we have previously created a mouse model in which mice deficient in the inhibins develop gonadal sex cord-stromal tumors with essentially 100% penetrance. These tumors develop as early as 4 weeks of age…
High levels of fetal membrane activin beta A and activin receptor IIB mRNAs and augmented concentration of amniotic fluid activin A in women in term or preterm labor.
J Endocrinol. 1997 Jul;154(1):95-101
Authors: Petraglia F, Di Blasio AM, Florio P, Gallo R, Genazzani AR, Woodruff TK, Vale W
The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether…
The uterine myometrium is a target for increased levels of activin A during pregnancy
Endocrinology. 1997 Jul;138(7):3042-6
Authors: Draper LB, Chong H, Wang E, Woodruff TK
Abstract:
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…