activin
American Heritage Dictionary:
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ac·ti·vin
(ăk'tə-vĭn, ăk-tĭv'ĭn) 
n.
A polypeptide growth factor that is synthesized in the pituitary gland and the gonads and stimulates the secretion of follicle stimulating hormone.
n.
A polypeptide growth factor that is synthesized in the pituitary gland and the gonads and stimulates the secretion of follicle stimulating hormone.
[ACTIV(ATE) + (INHIB)IN (from its activating follicle stimulating hormone).]
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one of two gonadal glycoproteins related to transforming growth factor-β (the other is inhibin); present in two forms in human gonads, it exists as a dimer of inhibin βA or βB chains, linked by disulfide bonds. Activin A is a dimer of βA chains; activin AB is a dimer of βA and βB chains. A potent selective stimulator of FSH secretion by the anterior pituitary gland, not via GnRH receptors, it modulates induction of hemoglobin accumulation and proliferation of erythroid progenitor cells in human bone marrow culture, and is important in embryonic axial development.
| activicin, active-enzyme centrifugation, active transport | |
| activin receptor-like kinase 1, activity, activity coefficient |
Saunders Veterinary Dictionary:
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activin
A gonadal peptide hormone isolated from follicular fluid; has an unidentified role in stimulating FSH secretion.
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry
Oxford University Press. Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology © 1997, 2000, 2006 All rights reserved.
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