Phillips D J, de Kretser D M
Institute of Reproduction and Development, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3168, Australia.
Front Neuroendocrinol. 1998 Oct;19(4):287-322. doi: 10.1006/frne.1998.0169.
Follistatin was first described in 1987 as a follicle-stimulating hormone inhibiting substance present in ovarian follicular fluid. We now know that this effect of follistatin is only one of its many properties in a number of reproductive and nonreproductive systems. A majority of these functions are facilitated through the affinity of follistatin for activin, where activin's effects are neutralized through its binding to follistatin. As such, the interplay between follistatin and activin represents a powerful regulatory mechanism that impinges on a variety of cellular processes within the body. In this review we focus on the biochemical characteristics of follistatin and its interaction with activin and discuss the emerging role of these proteins as potent tissue regulators in the gonad, pituitary gland, pregnancy membranes, vasculature, and liver. Consideration is also given to the larger family of proteins that contain follistatin-like modules, in particular with regard to their functional and structural implications.
卵泡抑素于1987年首次被描述为存在于卵巢卵泡液中的一种抑制卵泡刺激素的物质。我们现在知道，卵泡抑素的这种作用只是它在许多生殖和非生殖系统中的众多特性之一。这些功能中的大多数是通过卵泡抑素与激活素的亲和力来实现的，激活素的作用通过其与卵泡抑素的结合而被中和。因此，卵泡抑素与激活素之间的相互作用代表了一种强大的调节机制，它影响着体内各种细胞过程。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注卵泡抑素的生化特性及其与激活素的相互作用，并讨论这些蛋白质作为性腺、垂体、胎膜、血管系统和肝脏中强大的组织调节因子的新作用。我们还考虑了包含卵泡抑素样模块的更大的蛋白质家族，特别是它们在功能和结构方面的意义。
