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Different phenotypes for mice deficient in either activins or activin receptor type II

Nature volume 374, pages 356–360 (1995)Cite this article

Abstract

ACTIVINS are believed to initiate a signal transduction cascade by binding to serine/threonine kinase receptors types I and II1–3. Activins4 bind to several different receptors in vitro1–3, but the significance of this interaction in vivo has not been confirmed. To test the function of the type II activin receptor (ActRcII) in mammalian development and reproduction, we generated a null mutation in the ActRcII gene in mice using embryonic stem cell technology. We expected ActRcII-deficient mice to phenocopy activin-deficient mice. A few ActRcII-deficient mice had skeletal and facial abnormalities reminiscent of the Pierre–Robin syndrome in humans5,6, but most lacked these defects and developed into adults; their follicle-stimulating hormone was suppressed, and their reproductive performance was defective. These findings confirm a role of ActRcII in activin signalling in pituitary gonadotrophs. The striking lack of overlap between phenotypes of ActRcII-deficient and activin-deficient mice suggests that the ligands that signal through ActRcII during embryonic development are not activins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Martin M. Matzuk & Allan Bradley

  2. Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Martin M. Matzuk & T. Rajendra Kumar

  3. Department of Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Martin M. Matzuk

  4. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Allan Bradley

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  2. T. Rajendra Kumar
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Matzuk, M., Kumar, T. & Bradley, A. Different phenotypes for mice deficient in either activins or activin receptor type II. Nature 374, 356–360 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/374356a0

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