title: Vitamin A: a multifunctional tool for development.
abstract: Extensive research carried out over the last 100 years has established that the fat-soluble organic compound vitamin A plays crucial roles in early development, organogenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis as well as in tissue homeostasis. Given its importance during development, the delivery of vitamin A to the embryo is very tightly regulated with perturbations leading to severe malformations. This review discusses the roles of vitamin A during human development and the molecular mechanisms controlling its biological effects, hence bridging the gap between human development and molecular genetic work carried out in animal models. Vitamin A delivery during pregnancy and its developmental teratology in humans are thus discussed alongside work on model organisms, such as chicken or mice, revealing the molecular layout and functions of vitamin A metabolism and signaling. We conclude that, during development, vitamin A-derived signals are very tightly controlled in time and space and that this complex regulation is achieved by elaborate autoregulatory loops and by sophisticated interactions with other signaling cascades.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Université de Lyon (Université Lyon 1, CNRS UMR5242, INRA 1288, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon), Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Mazariegos
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Theodosiou
authors.forename: Florent
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Campo-Paysaa
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schubert
mesh_terms: D017255:Acitretin / Q000378:metabolism; D000445:Aldehyde Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002645:Chickens; D015509:Developmental Biology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005050:Etretinate / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005333:Fetus; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A; D005050:Etretinate; D000445:Aldehyde Oxidoreductases; C470579:RALDH2 protein, mouse; D017255:Acitretin