Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol 71, 1678-1680, Copyright © 1990 by Endocrine Society

ARTICLES

Human recombinant activin-A inhibits proliferation of human fetal adrenal cells in vitro

SJ Spencer, J Rabinovici and RB Jaffe
Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco 94143.

Activins and inhibins are dimeric peptides which are structurally and functionally related to transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). The mRNA for the activin and inhibin subunits is expressed in the adrenal gland. Because members of the TGF-beta superfamily have effects on mitogenesis, we examined the effect of recombinant human activin-A (rh- activin-A) on proliferation of midgestation human fetal adrenal cells in vitro. Dose-dependent growth inhibition by rh-activin-A was obtained, with an ED50 of 1 ng/ml. Rh-activin-A inhibited basal and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated fetal zone cell proliferation, but did not alter basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-stimulated growth. TGF-beta combined with rh-activin-A demonstrated additive inhibition of fetal adrenal growth. These findings suggest a potential autocrine or paracrine role for activin-A in modulating the growth and/or subsequent involution of the human fetal adrenal gland.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. G Farnworth, Y. Wang, P. Leembruggen, G. T Ooi, C. Harrison, D. M Robertson, and J. K Findlay Rodent adrenocortical cells display high affinity binding sites and proteins for inhibin A, and express components required for autocrine signalling by activins and bone morphogenetic proteins. J. Endocrinol., March 1, 2006; 188(3): 451 - 465. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Vanttinen, T. Kuulasmaa, J. Liu, and R. Voutilainen Expression of Activin/Inhibin Receptor and Binding Protein Genes and Regulation of Activin/Inhibin Peptide Secretion in Human Adrenocortical Cells J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., September 1, 2002; 87(9): 4257 - 4263. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y.-G. Chen, H. M. Lui, S.-L. Lin, J. M. Lee, and S.-Y. Ying Regulation of Cell Proliferation, Apoptosis, and Carcinogenesis by Activin Experimental Biology and Medicine, February 1, 2002; 227(2): 75 - 87. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. C. Danila, W. J. Inder, X. Zhang, J. M. Alexander, B. Swearingen, E. T. Hedley-Whyte, and A. Klibanski Activin Effects on Neoplastic Proliferation of Human Pituitary Tumors J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., March 1, 2000; 85(3): 1009 - 1015. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				F. H. D’Abronzo, B. Swearingen, A. Klibanski, and J. M. Alexander Mutational Analysis of Activin/Transforming Growth Factor-{beta} Type I and Type II Receptor Kinases in Human Pituitary Tumors J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., May 1, 1999; 84(5): 1716 - 1721. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. Ishisaki, K. Yamato, A. Nakao, K. Nonaka, M. Ohguchi, P. ten Dijke, and T. Nishihara Smad7 Is an Activin-inducible Inhibitor of Activin-induced Growth Arrest and Apoptosis in Mouse B Cells J. Biol. Chem., September 18, 1998; 273(38): 24293 - 24296. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Yamato, T. Koseki, M. Ohguchi, M. Kizaki, Y. Ikeda, and T. Nishihara Activin A Induction of Cell-Cycle Arrest Involves Modulation of Cyclin D2 and p21CIP1/WAF1 in Plasmacytic Cells Mol. Endocrinol., July 1, 1997; 11(8): 1044 - 1052. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				S. Mesiano and R. B. Jaffe Developmental and Functional Biology of the Primate Fetal Adrenal Cortex Endocr. Rev., June 1, 1997; 18(3): 378 - 403. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				G. Majdic, A. S. McNeilly, R. M. Sharpe, L. R. Evans, N. P. Groome, and P. T. K. Saunders Testicular Expression of Inhibin and Activin Subunits and Follistatin in the Rat and Human Fetus and Neonate and During Postnatal Development in the Rat Endocrinology, May 1, 1997; 138(5): 2136 - 2147. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]