Integrating Retinoic Acid Signaling With Brain Function

The vitamin A derivative retinoic acid (RA) regulates the transcription of about a 6th of the human genome. Compelling evidence indicates a role of RA in cognitive activities, but its integration with the molecular mechanisms of higher brain functions is not known. Here we describe the properties of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 2009-01, Vol.45 (1), p.139-150
Main Authors: Luo, Tuanlian, Wagner, Elisabeth, Dräger, Ursula C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acids
Animal
Animals
Biochemistry
Biology
Brain
Brain - physiology
Brain Hemisphere Functions
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive abilities
Cognitive Ability
Cognitive Development
Cortex
Developmental psychology
DNA
Gene Expression
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Genes
Genetics
Genomics
Humans
Life cycles
Mice
Molecular Structure
Morphology
Neurology
Neurons
Patterns
Proteins
Signal transduction
Signal Transduction - physiology
T cell receptors
Tretinoin - metabolism
Vitamin A
Vitamins
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Summary:The vitamin A derivative retinoic acid (RA) regulates the transcription of about a 6th of the human genome. Compelling evidence indicates a role of RA in cognitive activities, but its integration with the molecular mechanisms of higher brain functions is not known. Here we describe the properties of RA signaling in the mouse, which point to unknown means through which RA actions are modified and reinforced at selected brain sites. The locations of RA signaling for the developing dorsal forebrain undergo slow, gradual changes over the life cycle except for two brief periods of accelerated shifts, which coincide with periods of enhanced developmental vulnerability. In the functional cerebral cortex, RA signaling delineates regions with immature, plastic neuronal characteristics, within which the expression of hundreds of genes is differentially regulated. Many of these are involved in neuronal ligand-receptor interactions and signaling cascades for activity dependent gene expression. We propose that RA functions in the brain by contributing topographical information and life cycle changes to combinatorial transcriptional mechanisms and that in the postnatal cortex RA signaling designates domains of modifiable neuronal circuitry.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.45.1.139