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Originally published online as doi:10.2353/ajpath.2009.080296 on December 18, 2008

Published online before print December 18, 2008
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(American Journal of Pathology. 2009;174:184-195.)
© 2009 American Society for Investigative Pathology
DOI: 10.2353/ajpath.2009.080296

Activin C Antagonizes Activin A in Vitro and Overexpression Leads to Pathologies in Vivo

Elspeth Gold*, Niti Jetly{dagger}, Moira K. O'Bryan{ddagger}, Sarah Meachem§, Deepa Srinivasan*, Supreeti Behuria{dagger}, L. Gabriel Sanchez-Partida{ddagger}, Teresa Woodruff{dagger}, Shelley Hedwards*, Hong Wang*, Helen McDougall*, Victoria Casey*, Birunthi Niranjan*, Shane Patella* and Gail Risbridger*

From the Centre for Urological Research,* Monash Institute of Medical Research, and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology and Development,{ddagger} Monash University, Clayton, Australia; Prince Henry’s Institute,§ Clayton, Australia; and the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology,{dagger} Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Activin A is a potent growth and differentiation factor whose synthesis and bioactivity are tightly regulated. Both follistatin binding and inhibin subunit heterodimerization block access to the activin receptor and/or receptor activation. We postulated that the activin-βC subunit provides another mechanism regulating activin bioactivity. To test our hypothesis, we examined the biological effects of activin C and produced mice that overexpress activin-βC. Activin C reduced activin A bioactivity in vitro; in LNCaP cells, activin C abrogated both activin A-induced Smad signaling and growth inhibition, and in LβT2 cells, activin C antagonized activin A-mediated activity of an follicle-stimulating hormone-β promoter. Transgenic mice that overexpress activin-βC exhibited disease in testis, liver, and prostate. Male infertility was caused by both reduced sperm production and impaired sperm motility. The livers of the transgenic mice were enlarged because of an imbalance between hepatocyte proliferation and apoptosis. Transgenic prostates showed evidence of hypertrophy and epithelial cell hyperplasia. Additionally, there was decreased evidence of nuclear Smad-2 localization in the testis, liver, and prostate, indicating that overexpression of activin-βC antagonized Smad signaling in vivo. Underlying the significance of these findings, human testis, liver, and prostate cancers expressed increased activin-βC immunoreactivity. This study provides evidence that activin-βC is an antagonist of activin A and supplies an impetus to examine its role in development and disease.






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Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Investigative Pathology.