Vitamin A–Not for Your Eyes Only: Requirement for Heart Formation Begins Early in Embryogenesis

Nutrients

关键词: vitamin A-deficient;    quail embryo;    retinoic acid;    gene regulation;    heart morphogenesis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu2050532

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Vitamin A insufficiency has profound adverse effects on embryonic development. Major advances in understanding the role of vitamin A in vertebrate heart formation have been made since the discovery that the vitamin A active form, all-trans-retinoic acid, regulates many genes, including developmental genes. Among the experimental models used, the vitamin A-deficient avian embryo has been an important tool to study the function of vitamin A during early heart formation. A cluster of retinoic acid-regulated developmental genes have been identified that participate in building the heart. In the absence of retinoic acid the embryonic heart develops abnormally leading to embryolethality.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2010 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.