Author: Jaïs, Xavier ; Ottaviani, Mina ; De Groote, Pascal ; Bourdin, Arnaud ; Jevnikar, Mitja ; Savale, Laurent ; Montani, David ; Thuillet, Raphaël ; Fadel, Elie ; Boucly, Athénaïs ; Wilkins, Martin R ; Guignabert, Christophe ; Roche, Anne ; Tu, Ly ; Sitbon, Olivier ; Prévot, Grégoire ; Rhodes, Christopher J ; Bergot, Emmanuel ; Humbert, Marc ; Beurnier, Antoine ; Howard, Luke S

Background:Activins are novel therapeutic targets in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We therefore studied whether key members of the activin pathway could be used as PAH biomarkers.Methods:Serum levels of activin A, activin B, α-subunit of inhibin A and B proteins, and the antagonists follistatin and follistatin-like 3 (FSTL3) were measured in controls and in patients with newly diagnosed idiopathic, heritable, or anorexigen-associated PAH (n=80) at baseline and 3 to 4 months after treatment initiation. The primary outcome was death or lung transplantation. Expression patterns of the inhibin subunits, follistatin, FSTL3, Bambi, Cripto, and the activin receptors type I (ALK), type II (ACTRII), and betaglycan were analyzed in PAH and control lung tissues.Results: Death or lung transplantation occurred in 26 of 80 patients (32.5%) over a median follow-up of 69 (interquartile range, 50–81) months. Both baseline (hazard ratio, 1.001 [95% CI, 1.000–1.001]; P =0.037 and 1.263 [95% CI, 1.049–1.520]; P =0.014, respectively) and follow-up (hazard ratio, 1.003 [95% CI, 1.001–1.005]; P =0.001 and 1.365 [95% CI, 1.185–1.573]; P <0.001, respectively) serum levels of activin A and FSTL3 were associated with transplant-free survival in a model adjusted for age and sex. Thresholds determined by receiver operating characteristic analyses were 393 pg/mL for activin A and 16.6 ng/mL for FSTL3. When adjusted with New York Heart Association functional class, 6-minute walk distance, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, the hazard ratios for transplant-free survival for baseline activin A <393 pg/mL and FSTL3 <16.6 ng/mL were, respectively, 0.14 (95% CI, 0.03–0.61; P =0.009) and 0.17 (95% CI, 0.06–0.45; P <0.001), and for follow-up measures, 0.23 (95% CI, 0.07–0.78; P =0.019) and 0.27 (95% CI, 0.09–0.78, P =0.015), respectively. Prognostic values of activin A and FSTL3 were confirmed in an independent external validation cohort. Histological analyses showed a nuclear accumulation of the phosphorylated form of Smad2/3, higher immunoreactivities for ACTRIIB, ALK2, ALK4, ALK5, ALK7, Cripto, and FSTL3 in vascular endothelial and smooth muscle layers, and lower immunostaining for inhibin-α and follistatin. Conclusions:These findings offer new insights into the activin signaling system in PAH and show that activin A and FSTL3 are prognostic biomarkers for PAH.

01 Jan 2023·Journal of Reproduction and Development

The effect of ACVR1B/TGFBR1/ACVR1C signaling inhibition on oocyte and granulosa cell development during <i>in vitro</i> growth culture

Article

Author: Akimoto, Yuki ; Naito, Kunihiko ; Sugiura, Koji ; Fujii, Wataru

The signals of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily play a critical role in follicular development in mammals. ACVR1B/TGFBR1/ACVR1C receptors mediate the signaling of several TGF-β superfamily ligands in granulosa cells. Although the requirement for ACVR1B/TGFBR1/ACVR1C receptor signaling in follicular development has been confirmed using mutant mouse models, the detailed roles of the signaling in granulosa cell and oocyte development have not been clearly defined. In the present study, we examined the requirement for ACVR1B/TGFBR1/ACVR1C receptor signaling in granulosa cells using an in vitro growth culture of oocyte-granulosa cell complexes (OGCs) and SB431542, a potent inhibitor of the receptor signaling. Although cumulus-oocyte complexes isolated from the control OGCs were able to undergo cumulus expansion, those isolated from OGCs grown with the inhibitor were not competent, even in the presence of in vivo-grown oocytes. The diameter of the oocytes in the SB431542-treated OGCs was comparable with that of the control; however, these oocytes were not competent for complete meiotic maturation or preimplantation development. Therefore, ACVR1B/TGFBR1/ACVR1C receptor signaling is not required for oocytes to increase their volume but is essential for the normal development of cumulus cells and oocyte developmental competence.

01 Dec 2019·Cellular Reprogramming

In Vitro Induction of Human Embryonic Stem Cells into the Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons and Transplantation in Cynomolgus Monkey

Article

Author: Xiao, Xiong ; Zhang, Huiyun ; He, Jingjing ; Li, Yuemin ; Liu, Yingquan ; Qiu, Xiaoyan

A simple, rapid, efficient, and specialized culture system was successfully developed in this study to induce human embryonic stem cells into dopaminergic neurons in vitro. It only took 5 days to generate quickly and directly a large number of homogeneous neural stem cell (NSC) spheres by the introduction of small molecules LDN (inhibitor of BMP [bone morphogenetic protein] pathway that inhibits BMP type I receptors ALK₂ and ALK₃), SB431542 (inhibitor of TGF-β/Activin/Dodal pathway that inhibits ALK₄, ALK₅, and ALK₇), CHIR99021 (inhibitors of GSK-3 [glycogen synthase kinase 3]), and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). The dopaminergic neurons were successfully induced at day 25 (tyrosine hydroxylase [TH] expressed) and at day 32 (TH highly expressed) with high purity (TH/Tuj1: 84.14% and 93.15%, respectively) by the addition of FGF8 (fibroblast growth factor 8), sonic hedgehog (SHH), and Purmorphamine after the generation of NSC at day 5. And, the dopaminergic neurons induced by this system successfully survived and integrated into the striatum of cynomolgus monkey brain after transplantation, which verified the efficiency of the induction system developed in this study, suggesting the potential clinical application in cell therapy for neurological diseases.

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