NMDA receptor signaling is important for neural tube formation and for preventing antiepileptic drug-induced neural tube defects

Failure of neural tube closure leads to neural tube defects (NTDs), which can have serious neurological consequences or be lethal. Use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy increases the incidence of NTDs in offspring by unknown mechanisms. Here we show that during Xenopus laevis neural tub...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sequerra, Eduardo Bouth, Goyal, Raman, Castro, Patricio A., Levin, Jacqueline B., Borodinsky, Laura N.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFRN
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ufrn.br:123456789/25139
Acceso en línea:https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/25139
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Neural Tube Defect
N-methyl-D-aspartate
Desenvolvimento
Plasticidade neural
Descripción
Sumario:Failure of neural tube closure leads to neural tube defects (NTDs), which can have serious neurological consequences or be lethal. Use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) during pregnancy increases the incidence of NTDs in offspring by unknown mechanisms. Here we show that during Xenopus laevis neural tube formation, neural plate cells exhibit spontaneous calcium dynamics that are partially mediated by glutamate signaling. We demonstrate that N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are important for the formation of the neural tube and loss of their function induces an increase in neural plate cell proliferation and impairs neural cell migration, which result in NTDs. We present evidence that the AED valproic acid perturbs glutamate signaling, leading to NTDs that are rescued with varied efficacy by preventing DNA synthesis, activating NMDA receptors, or recruiting the NMDA receptor target ERK1/2. These findings may prompt mechanistic identification of AEDs that do not interfere with neural tube formation.