Article
Biology
Szabina Szofia Szilagyi, Ayelet R. Amsalem-Zafran, Keren E. Shapira, Marcelo Ehrlich, Yoav Henis
Summary: Activins and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) can compete for common activin type II receptors, providing a novel mechanism to balance signaling between Smad2/3 and Smad1/5/8.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Erik Martinez-Hackert, Anders Sundan, Toril Holien
Summary: The TGF-beta family is a group of structurally related, multifunctional growth factors crucially involved in the development, regulation, and maintenance of animal tissues. These ligands exhibit promiscuity and compete with each other for binding to receptors, possibly allowing cells to process multiple ligand inputs for subtle, distinctive, or adaptive responses and developmental plasticity. This concept of ligand competition may be fundamentally tied to human physiology, disease, and therapy.
CYTOKINE & GROWTH FACTOR REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Biophysics
Dongmyung Oh, Zhongwen Chen, Kabir H. Biswas, Funing Bai, Hui Ting Ong, Michael P. Sheetz, Jay T. Groves
Summary: Cells possess receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) on their surface to detect extracellular growth factors and signaling molecules. The interactions between different RTKs and intracellular signaling molecules are still poorly understood. This study utilizes an experimental approach to measure the competition between ephrin-A1:EphA2 and epidermal growth factor (EGF):EGF receptor (EGFR) complexes for downstream signaling molecules Grb2 and SOS. The findings suggest that EGF:EGFR complexes outcompete ephrin-A1:EphA2 in signaling, indicating a negative crosstalk interaction controlled by chemical mass action and protein copy number limitations.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Congcong Wei, Xingyong Chen, Jinzhou Peng, Shiqi Yu, Penghui Chang, Kaiming Jin, Zhaoyu Geng
Summary: This experiment investigates the regulation of granular cell proliferation in Wanxi White goose by the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) signaling pathway. The mRNA expression of BMP4 is found to be significantly elevated in granular cells, and overexpression of BMP4 promotes cell proliferation while inhibition of BMP4 expression leads to increased cell apoptosis. ChIP-Seq analysis reveals that BMP4 phosphorylates SMAD8, which then combines with SMAD4 to regulate the expression of BAMBI, thereby promoting lipid synthesis.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pawanthi Buwaneka, Arthur Ralko, Sukhamoy Gorai, Ha Pham, Wonhwa Cho
Summary: The study reveals that Smad2 selectively binds to phosphatidylinositol-4,5bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2) in the plasma membrane, which is crucial for its recruitment and activation at the TGF-il receptor complex. The interaction with PI(4,5)P2 triggers the PM recruitment of Smad2, leading to downstream signaling and transcriptional regulation. The findings suggest a potential role of membrane lipids in regulating Smad proteins and their functions in TGF-il-mediated biological processes.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Takenobu Katagiri, Sho Tsukamoto, Mai Kuratani
Summary: Mutations in the ALK2/ACVR1 gene can lead to various disorders, such as fibro-dysplasia ossificans progressiva and several others. Research findings help us gain a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases, potentially leading to the development of new treatments and diagnostic methods for disorders associated with ALK2/ACVR1 in the near future.
Review
Cell Biology
Pasquale Esposito, Daniela Verzola, Daniela Picciotto, Leda Cipriani, Francesca Viazzi, Giacomo Garibotto
Summary: The hypothesis suggests that myostatin and activin-A are involved in vascular damage in atherosclerosis and CKD, binding to different activin receptors and activating distinct signaling pathways. Myostatin promotes vascular inflammation and premature aging, while activin-A is implicated in vascular calcification and CKD-related mineral bone disorders. Understanding their roles in vascular disease and bone metabolism could lead to novel therapeutic opportunities.
Article
Oncology
Daniela Meier, Andreas Lodberg, Ana Gvozdenovic, Giovanni Pellegrini, Olga Neklyudova, Walter Born, Bruno Fuchs, Marco Eijken, Sander M. Botter
Summary: This study investigated the inhibition of the activin receptor signaling pathway as a therapy for osteosarcoma and found that two inhibitors could significantly reduce primary tumor development. Furthermore, combination therapy with the inhibitors also decreased tumor size and lung metastases, increased body weight, demonstrating a novel approach to treating osteosarcoma.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Pavithran T. Ravindran, Sarah McFann, Richard H. Thornton, Jared E. Toettcher
Summary: Cells employ intracellular signaling pathways to sense and respond to changes in their external environment. Live-cell biosensors have revealed complex pulsatile dynamics in many pathways, but studies of these dynamics are limited by the necessity of live-cell imaging at high resolution. This study describes a method to infer pulsatile signaling dynamics in fixed cells using a pulse-detecting gene circuit. The circuit, implemented experimentally for the Erk signaling pathway, allows sensitive detection of Erk pulses and provides a way to permanently label transient, dynamic cell populations for further investigation of signaling dynamics.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Asfia Soomro, Mohammad Khajehei, Renzhong Li, Kian O'Neil, Dan Zhang, Bo Gao, Melissa MacDonald, Masao Kakoki, Joan C. C. Krepinsky
Summary: TGF beta 1 enhances fibrosis in chronic kidney disease (CKD) by regulating activin A signaling pathways, suggesting activin A as a potential therapeutic target for preventing fibrosis in CKD.
CELLULAR & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ying Chen, Jinyi Zhang, Yuan Weng, Yueming Xu, Weiqiang Lu, Wei Liu, Mingyao Liu, Tian Hua, Gaojie Song
Summary: This study presents the structures of the human adenosine A2B receptor (A2BR) bound to its agonists NECA and BAY60-6583, elucidating the orthosteric binding pockets and their subtle differences. Selectivity is mainly determined by regions extended from the orthosteric pocket, and the key determinants for BAY60-6583's selectivity against A2BR are identified. This study provides a better understanding of ligand selectivity in the adenosine receptor family and offers a structural template for the development of A2BR ligands for related diseases.
Article
Cell Biology
Davide M. Coda, Harshil Patel, Ilaria Gori, Tessa E. Gaarenstroom, Ok-Ryul Song, Michael Howell, Caroline S. Hill
Summary: This study investigates the effect of NODAL/Activin signaling on chromatin accessibility and transcription factor activity using ATAC-seq and computational footprinting. The study reveals that SMAD2 binding induces chromatin opening and identifies footprints of FOXI3, FOXO3, and ZIC3 at SMAD2-bound enhancers. The study also uncovers a self-enabling transcriptional cascade by which NODAL/Activin signaling induces delayed gene expression.
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francesco Cambuli, Veronica Foletto, Alessandro Alaimo, Dario De Felice, Francesco Gandolfi, Maria Dilia Palumbieri, Michela Zaffagni, Sacha Genovesi, Marco Lorenzoni, Martina Celotti, Emiliana Bertossio, Giosue Mazzero, Arianna Bertossi, Alessandra Bisio, Francesco Berardinelli, Antonio Antoccia, Marco Gaspari, Mattia Barbareschi, Michelangelo Fiorentino, Michael M. Shen, Massimo Loda, Alessandro Romanel, Andrea Lunardi
Summary: This study demonstrates that non-canonical Activin A signaling plays a critical role in maintaining epithelial quiescence in the healthy prostate, with potential implications for understanding cancer initiation and the development of therapies targeting quiescent tumor progenitors.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Cheng Zhao, Yue Zhai, Ruijing Geng, Kun Wu, Weiyi Song, Nana Ai, Wei Ge
Summary: Activin and inhibin play important roles in fish reproduction, particularly in folliculogenesis and ovarian homeostasis. This study investigated the functional roles and importance of beta subunits (beta As: inhbaa and inhbab; beta B: inhbb) in zebrafish development and reproduction using gene editing technology. The loss of all three subunits resulted in early death, indicating their functional importance in development. Beta As, especially inhbaa, were found to be essential in controlling female follicle development, with the loss of inhbaa leading to delayed follicle activation and ovarian fibrosis. The study provides comprehensive evidence for the relative importance of each beta subunit in zebrafish reproduction.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Wanglong Qiu, Chia-Yu Kuo, Yu Tian, Gloria H. Su
Summary: Activin, a member of the TGF-beta superfamily, is involved in various physiological processes and human diseases, particularly in tumorigenesis where it plays both tumor-suppressor and tumor-promoter roles. Understanding the mechanisms of activin signaling in tumorigenesis could lead to potential therapeutic targets for human cancers and other diseases.
Article
Cell Biology
Ya-yun Yan, Xiao-ming Wang, Yan Jiang, Han Chen, Jin-ting He, Jing Mang, Yan-kun Shao, Zhong-xin Xu
NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH
(2015)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Long-Xing Xue, Zhong-Hang Xu, Jiao-Qi Wang, Yang Cui, Hong -Yu Liu, Wen-Zhao Liang, Qiu-Ye Ji, Jin-Ting He, Yan-Kun Shao, Jing Mang, Zhong-Xin Xu
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2016)
Article
Cell Biology
Long-xing Xue, Hong-yu Liu, Yang Cui, Yue Dong, Jiao-qi Wang, Qiu-ye Ji, Jin-ting He, Min Yao, Ying-ying Wang, Yan-kun Shao, Jing Mang, Zhong-xin Xu
NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH
(2017)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zhong-Xin Xu, Lei Xu, Jiao-Qi Wang, Jing Mang, Le Yang, Jin-Ting He
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2018)
Editorial Material
Clinical Neurology
Wenzhao Liang, Yankun Shao, Yang Cui, Shuai Wu, Feng Lu, Jinting He, Yingying Wang, Xiaobin Han, Jing Mang, Zhongxin Xu
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yan-kun Shao, Jing Mang, Pei-lan Li, Jie Wang, Ting Deng, Zhong-xin Xu
Article
Clinical Neurology
Zhihua Du, Jing Mang, Shengyuan Yu, Chenglin Tian, Xiangyu Cao, Xinfeng Liu, Renzheng Ma, Rongju Zhang, Bin Lv, Jun Wang
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2018)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jiao-Qi Wang, Yue Dong, Si-Jia Li, Cheng-Liang Pan, Hong-Yu Liu, Yu-Kai Wang, Lei Xu, Jia-Hui Yang, Yun-Xia Cui, Jin-Ting He, Jing Mang, Zhong-Xin Xu
NEUROCHEMICAL RESEARCH
(2019)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Xintong Wang, Jiaoqi Wang, Xiaohua Shi, Chengliang Pan, Hongyu Liu, Yue Dong, Rui Dong, Jing Mang, Zhongxin Xu
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Yu-Kai Wang, Xiao-Hua Shi, Ying-Ying Wang, Xin Zhang, Hong-Yu Liu, Xin-Tong Wang, Jing Mang, Zhong-Xin Xu
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Y. Cui, J-Q Wang, X-H Shi, Y-Y Wang, H-Y Liu, Z. Li, Y. Dong, J. Mang, Z-X Xu
EUROPEAN REVIEW FOR MEDICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2019)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
J. Q. Wang, Z. H. Xu, W. Z. Liang, J. T. He, Y. Cui, H. Y. Liu, L. X. Xue, W. Shi, Y. K. Shao, J. Mang, Z. X. Xu
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2016)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Wenzhao Liang, Dezhi Zhang, Jing Mang, Jinting He, Hongyu Liu, Yankun Shao, Fanglei Han, Zhongxin Xu
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
(2015)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Tingting Chu, Weidong Yu, Yingying Wang, Na Guo, Jinting He, Yankun Shao, Jing Mang, Zhongxin Xu
NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY LETTERS
(2015)