Latent GDF-8, His, Human

Growth/differentiation factor 8 (GDF8), or myostatin, negatively regulates muscle mass. GDF8 is held in a latent state through interactions with its N-terminal prodomain. GDF8, like numerous TGF-beta family members, is a disulfidelinked dimer that is synthesized as a precursor protein which requires cleavage by a furin-like protease to yield an N-terminal prodomain and a C-terminal mature, signaling domain.