PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Gray, AM
AU  - Mason, AJ
TI  - Requirement for activin A and transforming growth factor--beta 1 pro-regions in homodimer assembly
AID  - 10.1126/science.2315700
DP  - 1990 Mar 16
TA  - Science
PG  - 1328--1330
VI  - 247
IP  - 4948
4099  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/247/4948/1328.short
4100  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/247/4948/1328.full
SO  - Science1990 Mar 16; 247
AB  - Many proteins are initially synthesized as part of a large precursor. The role of the pro-region in the biosynthesis of transforming growth factor--beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) and activin A, two structurally related disulfide-linked homodimers synthesized as large precursors, was studied. Vectors that expressed either the pro-region or the mature regions of these molecules were used in complementation experiments, only when the pro-region was coexpressed with the mature region did intracellular dimerization and secretion of biologically active homodimers occur. The pro-regions of activin A and TGF-beta 1, therefore, aid the folding, disulfide bond formation, and export of their respective homodimers.