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Increased Hox activity mimics the teratogenic effects of excess retinoic acid signaling
Author(s) -
Waxman Joshua S.,
Yelon Deborah
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.21951
Subject(s) - hox gene , retinoic acid , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , tretinoin , signal transduction , retinoic acid receptor , genetics , transcription factor , cell culture , gene
Excess retinoic acid (RA) signaling can be teratogenic and result in cardiac birth defects, but the cellular and molecular origins of these defects are not well understood. Excessive RA signaling can completely eliminate heart formation in the zebrafish embryo. However, atrial and ventricular cells are differentially sensitive to more modest increases in RA signaling. Increased Hox activity, downstream of RA signaling, causes phenotypes similar to those resulting from excess RA. These results suggest that Hox activity mediates the differential effects of ectopic RA on atrial and ventricular cardiomyocytes and may underlie the teratogenic effects of RA on the heart. Developmental Dynamics 238:1207–1213, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.