Follistatin
The endogenous antagonist that neutralizes myostatin and activin.
EndogenousEstablished
Identity
- Class
- Secreted glycoprotein (multiple isoforms)
- Source
- Many tissues
- Receptor
- Ligand trap — binds activin/myostatin, no signaling receptor of its own
Mechanism
Follistatin does not signal through a receptor; it binds activin and myostatin directly and neutralizes them. By removing the brake, raising follistatin increases muscle mass — making it a focus of gene-therapy and muscle-disease research.
Reference notes
- Follistatin is a ligand trap, not a receptor agonist — it works by sequestering activin and myostatin.
- Increasing follistatin raises muscle mass by relieving the myostatin/activin brake.
- It is studied in muscular dystrophy and muscle-wasting research.
Selected literature
Curated peer-reviewed reviews, sourced from PubMed. Selected for relevance, not exhaustive — open any entry on PubMed for the full record and its primary citations.
- 1.Follistatin · The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology, 1998 · PMID 9785474
- 2.Follistatin and follistatin-like 3 in metabolic disorders · Prostaglandins & other lipid mediators, 2023 · PMID 37739334