Follistatin (FS) is one of several secreted proteins that modulate the activity of TGF-beta family members during development. The structural and functional analysis of Drosophila Follistatin (dFS) reveals important differences between dFS and its vertebrate orthologues: it is larger, more positively charged, and proteolytically processed. dFS primarily inhibits signaling of Drosophila Activin ...

Molecular network of the osteogenic BMPs and extracellular inhibitors maintains homeostasis of the skeletal tissues. It is important to determine relationship between BMP-2, -4 and -7 and their inhibitors: gremlin, follistatin, chordin and noggin, during normal osteogenesis. To determine their expression pattern we conducted investigation by inducing ectopic bone formation in rats. The results ...

Using in situ hybridization we have studied the localization of the messenger RNAs encoding the inhibin/activin subunits (alpha, beta A, beta B), the activin-binding protein follistatin and activin receptors (IIA, IIB) in mouse embryos during postimplantation development. From 6.5- to 9.5-days post coitum (p.c.) activin beta A and beta B subunit expression was restricted to the decidua, while a...

Changes in the hair cycle underlie age-related alopecia, but the causative mechanisms have remained unclear. Chen et al. point to an imbalance between stem cell-activating and -inhibitory signals as the key determinant of age-related regenerative decline. Further, they identify a secreted protein, follistatin, that may be able to shift the balance toward renewal.