| Tissue Specificity | Originally found in ovary (granulosa cells) and testis (Sertoli cells), but widely distributed in many tissues including brain and placenta. In adrenal cortex expression is limited to the zona reticularis and the innermost zona fasciculata in the normal gland, extending centripetally into the zona fasciculata in hyperplasia. Also found in adrenocortical tumors. Also expressed in prostate epithelium of benign prostatic hyperplasia, in regions of basal cell hyperplasia and in nonmalignant regions of high grade prostate cancer. Only circulating inhibin B is found in male, whereas circulating inhibins A and B are found in female. |
| Post Translational Modifications | Proteolytic processing yields a number of bioactive forms. The 20/23 kDa forms consist solely of the mature alpha chain, the 26/29 kDa forms consist of the most N-terminal propeptide linked through a disulfide bond to the mature alpha chain, the 50/53 kDa forms encompass the entire proprotein. Each type can be furthermore either mono- or diglycosylated, causing the mass difference. |
| Function | Inhibins and activins inhibit and activate, respectively, the secretion of follitropin by the pituitary gland. Inhibins/activins are involved in regulating a number of diverse functions such as hypothalamic and pituitary hormone secretion, gonadal hormone secretion, germ cell development and maturation, erythroid differentiation, insulin secretion, nerve cell survival, embryonic axial development or bone growth, depending on their subunit composition. Inhibins appear to oppose the functions of activins. Inhibin A is a dimer of alpha/INHA and beta-A/INHBA that functions as a feedback regulator in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Inhibits the secretion of FSH from the anterior pituitary gland by acting on pituitary gonadotrope cells. Antagonizes activin A by binding to the proteoglycan, betaglycan, and forming a stable complex with and, thereby, sequestering type II activin receptors while excluding type I receptor. Inhibin B is a dimer of alpha and beta-B that plays a crucial role in the regulation of the reproductive system by inhibiting the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) from the anterior pituitary gland. Thereby, maintains reproductive homeostasis in both males and females. Acts as a more potent suppressor of FSH release than inhibin A. Functions as competitive receptor antagonist binding activin type II receptors with high affinity in the presence of the TGF-beta type III coreceptor/TGFBR3L. |
| Protein Name | Inhibin Alpha Chain |
| Database Links | Reactome: R-HSA-1502540Reactome: R-HSA-201451Reactome: R-HSA-209822Reactome: R-HSA-9839406 |
| Cellular Localisation | Secreted |
| Alternative Protein Names | Inhibin Alpha Chain proteinINHA protein |
Information sourced from Uniprot.org
