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First published online January 13, 2009

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New biosynthetic code for retinoic acid gradient formation

Retinoic acid (RA) gradients regulate many developmental processes, including the specification of the embryonic body axes and pattern formation in the brain. RA synthesis from vitamin A is a two-step process, the second step of which - the conversion of retinal to RA by retinal dehydrogenases (RALDHs) - is crucial for tissue-specific RA production. Now, Strate and co-workers report that retinol dehydrogenase 10 (RDH10), which converts vitamin A to retinal, cooperates with RALDHs to establish RA signalling in Xenopus embryos (see p. 461). They show, for example, that XRDH10 expression in early embryos partly overlaps with that of XRALDH2. Overexpression of XRDH10 mimics RA responses, they report, and synergises with XRALDH2 to posteriorise the developing brain, whereas the knockdown of XRDH10 and XRALDH2 causes anteriorisation of the brain. These and other results lead the authors to propose a revised model for the generation and stabilisation of an RA gradient in early embryos that involves the combined expression and action of both XRDH10 and XRALDH2.

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Related articles in Development:

Retinol dehydrogenase 10 is a feedback regulator of retinoic acid signalling during axis formation and patterning of the central nervous system

Ina Strate, Tan H. Min, Dobromir Iliev, and Edgar M. Pera
Development 2009 136: 461-472. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?