Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 12, No. 12, 1244-1253,
December 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press
Retinoic Acid Synthesis in the Postnatal Mouse Brain Marks Distinct Developmental Stages and Functional Systems
E. Kennedy Shriver Center, Waltham, MA 02452, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Address correspondence to Ursula C. Dräger, E. Kennedy Shriver Center, Waltham, MA 02452, USA. Email: ursula.drager{at}umassmed.edu.
Retinoic acid (RA) affects development and function of the brain, but little is known about how much is made locally and where it is distributed. To identify RA-sensitive neural processes, we mapped the RA-synthesizing retinaldehyde dehydrogenases (RALDHs) during postnatal brain formation of the mouse. High and stable RALDH expressions mark the basal ganglia, olfactory bulbs, hippocampus and auditory afferents as major sites of RA actions in the functional brain. During the early postnatal period, transient and very high RALDH3 expressions distinguish two developmental events: (i) the colonization of the nucleus accumbens and the olfactory bulbs by neuronal precursors and (ii) the maturation of selected parts of the cerebral cortex. In the cortex, RALDH3 is transiently activated in postmigratory layer II/III neurons during formation of their dendritic arbors and it is transported in their axons across the corpus callosum. RALDH3-expressing cortical regions include most of the limbic lobe, with strongest expression in the anterior cingulate cortex, medial and lateral secondary visual cortices, auditory cortical areas, the secondary motor cortex and some association areas. The transient cortical expression points to a brief RA-critical period during differentiation of the cortical network that serves in the coordination of sensory-motor activity with emotional and recently learned information.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. O'Reilly, S. J. Bailey, and M. A. Lane Retinoid-Mediated Regulation of Mood: Possible Cellular Mechanisms Experimental Biology and Medicine, March 1, 2008; 233(3): 251 - 258. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Hagglund, A. Berghard, J. Strotmann, and S. Bohm Retinoic acid receptor-dependent survival of olfactory sensory neurons in postnatal and adult mice. J. Neurosci., March 22, 2006; 26(12): 3281 - 3291. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Jacobs, D. C. Lie, K. L. DeCicco, Y. Shi, L. M. DeLuca, F. H. Gage, and R. M. Evans Retinoic acid is required early during adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus PNAS, March 7, 2006; 103(10): 3902 - 3907. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 U. C. Drager Retinoic Acid Signaling in the Functioning Brain Sci. Signal., February 28, 2006; 2006(324): pe10 - pe10. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. T. Haskell and A.-S. LaMantia Retinoic Acid Signaling Identifies a Distinct Precursor Population in the Developing and Adult Forebrain J. Neurosci., August 17, 2005; 25(33): 7636 - 7647. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T.-W. Wang, H. Zhang, and J. M. Parent Retinoic acid regulates postnatal neurogenesis in the murine subventricular zone-olfactory bulb pathway Development, June 15, 2005; 132(12): 2721 - 2732. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Ambalavanan, J. E. Tyson, K. A. Kennedy, N. I. Hansen, B. R. Vohr, L. L. Wright, W. A. Carlo, and and National Institute of Child Health and Human D Vitamin A Supplementation for Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants: Outcome at 18 to 22 Months Pediatrics, March 1, 2005; 115(3): e249 - e254. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Y. Komatsu, A. Watakabe, T. Hashikawa, S. Tochitani, and T. Yamamori Retinol-binding Protein Gene is Highly Expressed in Higher-order Association Areas of the Primate Neocortex Cereb Cortex, January 1, 2005; 15(1): 96 - 108. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. R. Waclaw, B. Wang, and K. Campbell The homeobox gene Gsh2 is required for retinoid production in the embryonic mouse telencephalon Development, August 15, 2004; 131(16): 4013 - 4020. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Crandall, Y. Sakai, J. Zhang, O. Koul, Y. Mineur, W. E. Crusio, and P. McCaffery 13-cis-retinoic acid suppresses hippocampal cell division and hippocampal-dependent learning in mice PNAS, April 6, 2004; 101(14): 5111 - 5116. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. B. Goodman and A. B. Pardee Evidence for defective retinoid transport and function in late onset Alzheimer's disease PNAS, March 4, 2003; 100(5): 2901 - 2905. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|