Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:dateCreated
2002-6-10
pubmed:abstractText
Since the late 1980s, there has been an explosion of information on the molecular mechanisms and functions of vitamin A. This review focuses on the essential role of vitamin A in female reproduction and embryonic development and the metabolism of vitamin A (retinol) that results in these functions. Evidence strongly supports that in situ-generated all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) is the functional form of vitamin A in female reproduction and embryonic development. This is supported by the ability to reverse most reproductive and developmental blocks found in vitamin A deficiency with atRA, the block in embryonic development that occurs in retinaldehyde dehydrogenase type 2 null mutant mice, and the essential roles of the retinoic acid receptors, at least in embryogenesis. Early studies of embryos from marginally vitamin A-deficient (VAD) pregnant rats revealed a collection of defects called the vitamin A-deficiency syndrome. The manipulation of all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) levels in the diet of VAD female rats undergoing a reproduction cycle has proved to be an important new tool in deciphering the points of atRA function in early embryos and has provided a means to generate large numbers of embryos at later stages of development with the vitamin A-deficiency syndrome. The essentiality of the retinoid receptors in mediating the activity of atRA is exemplified by the many compound null mutant embryos that now recapitulate both the original vitamin A-deficiency syndrome and exhibit a host of new defects, many of which can also be observed in the VAD-atRA-supported rat embryo model and in retinaldehyde dehydrogenase type 2 (RALDH2) mutant mice. A major task for the future is to elucidate the atRA-dependent pathways that are normally operational in vitamin A-sufficient animals and that are perturbed in deficiency, thus leading to the characteristic VAD phenotypes described above.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0199-9885
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
22
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
347-81
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2002
pubmed:articleTitle
The role of vitamin A in mammalian reproduction and embryonic development.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. dame@biochem.wisc.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't