ArticleeLife2022
The orphan ligand, activin C, signals through activin receptor-like kinase 7.
Article in eLife, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Protein mediators of chronic kidney disease in Type 2 diabetes: A mendelian randomization study.PLoS medicine · 2026Article
- The crystal structure of the activin B:Fst288 complex and computational insights into the broad antagonistic activity and specificity of follistatin.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2026Article
- Circulating proteins altered in response to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet suggest underlying molecular mechanisms and long-term health benefits.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Activin B Regulates Fibroblasts to Promote Granulation Tissue Formation and Angiogenesis During Murine Skin-Wound Healing via the JNK/ERK Signaling Pathway.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Molecular mechanism of Activin receptor inhibition by DLK1.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Activin Actions in Adipocytes.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Review
- Acute regulation of murine adipose tissue lipolysis and insulin resistance by the TGFβ superfamily protein GDF3.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Activin E is a new guardian protecting against hepatic steatosis via inhibiting lipolysis in white adipose tissue.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Activin Signaling Pathway Specialization During Embryonic and Skeletal Muscle Development in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).Marine biotechnology (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- Bone morphogenetic protein signalling in pulmonary arterial hypertension: revisiting the BMPRII connection.Biochemical Society transactions · 2024Review
- Identification of novel therapeutic targets for chronic kidney disease and kidney function by integrating multi-omics proteome with transcriptome.Genome medicine · 2024Article
- Activin E is a transforming growth factor β ligand that signals specifically through activin receptor-like kinase 7.The Biochemical journal · 2024Article
- Human ACVR1C missense variants that correlate with altered body fat distribution produce metabolic alterations of graded severity in knock-in mutant mice.Molecular metabolism · 2024Article
- Targeting the activin receptor 1C on CD4+ T cells for cancer immunotherapy.Oncoimmunology · 2024Article
- Hepatic Activin E mediates liver-adipose inter-organ communication, suppressing adipose lipolysis in response to elevated serum fatty acids.Molecular metabolism · 2023Article
- Article
- Gastrointestinal pharmacology activins in liver health and disease.Biochemical pharmacology · 2023Review
- Transcriptional profiles of TGF-β superfamily members in the lumbar DRGs and the effects of activins A and C on inflammatory pain in rats.Journal of physiology and biochemistry · 2023Article
- Targeting activin receptor-like kinase 7 ameliorates adiposity and associated metabolic disorders.JCI insight · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Activin ligands are formed from two disulfide-linked inhibin β (Inhβ) subunit chains. They exist as homodimeric proteins, as in the case of activin A (ActA; InhβA/InhβA) or activin C (ActC; InhβC/InhβC), or as heterodimers, as with activin AC (ActAC; InhβA:InhβC). While the biological functions of ActA and activin B (ActB) have been well characterized, little is known about the biological functions of ActC or ActAC. One thought is that the InhβC chain functions to interfere with ActA production by forming less active ActAC heterodimers. Here, we assessed and characterized the signaling capacity of ligands containing the InhβC chain. ActC and ActAC activated SMAD2/3-dependent signaling via the type I receptor, activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7). Relative to ActA and ActB, ActC exhibited lower affinity for the cognate activin type II receptors and was resistant to neutralization by the extracellular antagonist, follistatin. In mature murine adipocytes, which exhibit high ALK7 expression, ActC elicited a SMAD2/3 response similar to ActB, which can also signal via ALK7. Collectively, these results establish that ActC and ActAC are active ligands that exhibit a distinct signaling receptor and antagonist profile compared to other activins.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.