title: Rapamycin treatment causes developmental delay, pigmentation defects, and gastrointestinal malformation on Xenopus embryogenesis.
abstract: Rapamycin is a drug working as an inhibitor of the TOR (target of rapamycin) signaling pathway and influences various life phenomena such as cell growth, proliferation, and life span extension in eukaryote. However, the extent to which rapamycin controls early developmental events of amphibians remains to be understood. Here we report an examination of rapamycin effects during Xenopus early development, followed by a confirmation of suppression of TOR downstream kinase S6K by rapamycin treatment. First, we found that developmental speed was declined in dose-dependent manner of rapamycin. Second, black pigment spots located at dorsal and lateral skin in tadpoles were reduced by rapamycin treatment. Moreover, in tadpole stages severe gastrointestinal malformations were observed in rapamycin-treated embryos. Taken together with these results, we conclude that treatment of the drug rapamycin causes enormous influences on early developmental period.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moriyama
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohata
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsukawa
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Michiue
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asashima
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuroda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000187:drug effects; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000187:drug effects*; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000494:pharmacology*; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; D020123:Sirolimus