Follistatin
Follistatin-344 / FST
The natural myostatin blocker.
Half-life
~ hours
Mol. weight
~38–40 kDa (glycosylated); 344-aa FS-344 precursor
Sequence
Glycoprotein — 344-residue follistatin isoform (FS-344)
Discussions
0 threads
Overview
An endogenous glycoprotein that binds and neutralizes myostatin (GDF-8) and other TGF-beta family members, lifting the brake that limits muscle growth. Unlike ACE-031 (a synthetic decoy receptor), follistatin is the body's own myostatin antagonist — researched for muscle-wasting and as a model for understanding the myostatin-follistatin axis.
Mechanism of action
Follistatin is a naturally occurring binding protein that sequesters myostatin (GDF-8) and related TGF-beta superfamily ligands, preventing them from activating their receptors. Because myostatin is a negative regulator of muscle mass, neutralizing it removes a brake on muscle growth. Follistatin-344 is a studied isoform; gene-therapy approaches delivering follistatin have reached clinical trials for muscle-wasting conditions like Becker muscular dystrophy.
Researched benefits
- Naturally antagonizes myostatin
- Studied for muscle-wasting diseases
- Follistatin gene therapy in clinical trials
Considerations
- Broad TGF-beta inhibition affects more than muscle
- Not approved as a standalone therapy
- Strictly research context
Key Academic Literature & Studies
Search more in PubMedPeer-reviewed citations and clinical trials evaluating Follistatin in scientific literature.
Query PubMed for recent peer-reviewed preclinical and clinical publications on Follistatin:
View Follistatin index on PubMed (NCBI)