Endocrine Abstracts

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are multifunctional proteins that regulate the fate of different cell types, including mesenchymal. BMPs promote the differentiation of mesenchymal cells into functional osteoblasts. Like other members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, BMPs elicit their cellular effects via specific types I and II serine/threonine receptors. The activated BMP type I receptor phosphorylates specific receptor-regulated (R)-Smad proteins, whi...

The architecturally associated subnuclear organization of nucleic acids and cognate regulatory factors suggests functional interrelationships between nuclear structure and gene expression. Mechanisms that contribute to the temporal/spatial distribution of transcription factors within the three dimensional context of nuclear architecture control the sorting and integration of regulatory information as well as the dynamic combinatorial assembly, organization and activities of tr...

The bioavailability of activin, GDF11, and myostatin, members of the TGFβ superfamily, is regulated by the soluble antagonists follistatin (FST) and follistatin like-3 (FSTL3). Activin influences tissue fate determination and organogenesis in embryos as well as organ homeostasis in adults while myostatin decreases muscle mass in adults and GDF11 regulates pancreatic β-cell differentiation. In addition, the FST gene produces three protein forms (FST288, FST303, and FS...

Dependence receptors are receptors that display two totally different signal transductions depending on ligand availability. If in the presence of ligand, these receptors transduce a positive signal leading to differentiation/proliferation/migration, in the absence of ligand these receptors induce an active process of cell death. Thus, such receptors create cellular states of dependence on their respective ligands by inducing apoptosis when unoccupied by ligand. This growing f...