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RETINOIC ACID ALTERS EPITHELIAL DIFFERENTIATION DURING PALATOGENESIS
Citation:
Abbott, B. AND R. Pratt. RETINOIC ACID ALTERS EPITHELIAL DIFFERENTIATION DURING PALATOGENESIS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-92/105 (NTIS PB92158617), 1991.
Description:
Retinoids are teratogenic in humans and animals, producing a syndrome of craniofacial malformations which includes cleft palate. his study investigates the mechanism through which retinoic acid induces cleft palate. urine palatogenesis after exposure to retinoic acid in utero is compared to normal development and to alterations observed after exposure in organ culture to retinoic acid or epidermal growth factor (EGF). uman embryonic palatal shelves were placed in the organ culture system and the responses to retinoIc acid and EGF are compared to those of the murine palatal shelves. rowth factors play a role in normal development and are found In the embryonic palate. n other cell culture systems, retinoids alter the expression of EGF receptors. ur results suggest that in the medial epithelial cells of the palate, retinoic acid sustains the expression of the EGF receptor and the binding of EGF, at a time when the expression in control medial cells has declined and these control cells subsequently undergo programmed cell death. he continued DNA synthesis, proliferation, survival, and shift in phenotype of the medial cells is believed to interfere with the adhesion and fusion of opposing palatal shelves, resulting in cleft palate.
