Dr
Sidis is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an Assistant
in Biochemistry at Massachusetts General Hospital.
His research has focused on the role of paracrine and autocrine signals in the regulation of the female reproductive axis. Present investigations aim to understand the function and mechanism of action of activins and related factors in the development and maturation of the ovarian follicle and in the control of pituitary FSH biosynthesis.
Activins are multi-potent cytokines that belong to the TGF-b super-family of growth and differentiation factors. They have been implicted in a diverse range of biological functions including reproduction, embryonic development, hematopoietic and bone cell differentiation, wound repair and inflammation response.
We utilize advanced molecular and cellular biology techniques in combination with traditional biochemical and endocrinology approaches to study structural and functional determinants involved in the interaction between activin and its binding proteins follistatin and FSRP (follistatin related protein/FLRG). These interactions are crucial for achieving proper biological response in target tissue since they establish the overall bioavailability of activin at its cell surface receptors. Another set of studies focuses on the molecular mechanisms that mediate the antagonistic effects of activins and its closely related factors inhibins in the context of various reproductive cell models.
Selected Publications
• Schneyer A, Schoen A, Quigg A, Sidis Y. Differential binding and neutralization of activins A and B by follistatin and follistatin like-3 (FSTL-3/FSRP/FLRG). Endocrinology. 2003 May;144(5):1671-4.
• Welt C, Sidis Y, Keutmann H, Schneyer A. Activins, inhibins, and follistatins: from endocrinology to signaling. A paradigm for the new millennium. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2002 Oct;227(9):724-52. Review.
•
Sidis Y, Tortoriello DV, Holmes WE, Pan Y, Keutmann
HT, Schneyer AL.
Follistatin-related protein and follistatin differentially neutralize endogenous
vs. exogenous activin. Endocrinology. 2002 May;143(5):1613-24.
• Fujiwara T, Sidis Y, Welt C, Lambert-Messerlian G, Fox J, Taylor A, Schneyer A. Dynamics of inhibin subunit and follistatin mRNA during development of normal and polycystic ovary syndrome follicles. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Sep;86(9):4206-15.
• Tortoriello DV, Sidis Y, Holtzman DA, Holmes WE, Schneyer AL. Human follistatin-related protein: a structural homologue of follistatin with nuclear localization. Endocrinology. 2001 Aug;142(8):3426-34.
• Schneyer A, Tortoriello D, Sidis Y, Keutmann H, Matsuzaki T, Holmes W. Follistatin-related protein (FSRP): a new member of the follistatin gene family. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001 Jun 30;180(1-2):33-8. Review.
• Sidis Y, Schneyer AL, Sluss PM, Johnson LN, Keutmann HT. Follistatin: essential role for the N-terminal domain in activin binding and neutralization. J Biol Chem. 2001 May 25; 276(21):17718-26.
•
Fujiwara T, Lambert-Messerlian G, Sidis Y, Leykin
L, Isaacson K, Toth T, Schneyer A.
Analysis of follicular fluid hormone concentrations and granulosa cell mRNA
levels for the inhibin-activin-follistatin system: relation to oocyte and
embryo characteristics.
Fertil Steril. 2000 Aug;74(2):348-55.
• Delbaere A, Sidis Y, Schneyer AL. Differential response to exogenous and endogenous activin in a human ovarian teratocarcinoma-derived cell line (PA-1): regulation by cell surface follistatin. Endocrinology. 1999 Jun;140(6):2463-70.
• Sidis Y, Fujiwara T, Leykin L, Isaacson K, Toth T, Schneyer AL. Characterization of inhibin/activin subunit, activin receptor, and follistatin messenger ribonucleic acid in human and mouse oocytes: evidence for activin's paracrine signaling from granulosa cells to oocytes. Biol Reprod. 1998 Oct;59(4):807-12.