Journal
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR ENDOCRINOLOGY
Volume 69, Issue 4, Pages T59-T67Publisher
BIOSCIENTIFICA LTD
DOI: 10.1530/JME-22-0041
Keywords
retinoic acid; retinoic acid receptor; development; genetic loss-of-function
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health (National Eye Institute)
- National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases) [R01 EY031745]
- [R56 AR067731]
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Vitamin A (retinol) is a crucial nutrient for embryonic development and adult health. Retinoic acid (RA), a metabolite of retinol, controls gene expression directly through nuclear RA receptors (RARs) and is required for the normal development of various organs and tissues in early stages. Genetic loss-of-function studies have played an instrumental role in understanding the importance of RA signaling in normal early development.
Vitamin A (retinol) is an important nutrient for embryonic development and adult health. Early studies identified retinoic acid (RA) as a metabolite of retinol, however, its importance was not apparent. Later, it was observed that RA treatment of vertebrate embryos had teratogenic effects on limb development. Subsequently, the discovery of nuclear RA receptors (RARs) revealed that RA controls gene expression directly at the transcriptional level through a process referred to as RA signaling. This important discovery led to further studies demonstrating that RA and RARs are required for normal embryonic development. The determination of RA function during normal development has been challenging as RA gain-of-function studies often lead to conclusions about normal development that conflict with RAR or RA loss-of-function studies. However, genetic loss-of-function studies have identified direct target genes of endogenous RA/RAR that are required for normal development of specific tissues. Thus, genetic loss-of-function studies that eliminate RARs or RA-generating enzymes have been instrumental in revealing that RA signaling is required for normal early development of many organs and tissues, including the hindbrain, posterior body axis, somites, spinal cord, forelimbs, heart, and eye.
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