Ketamine exposure in early development impairs specification of the primary germ cell layers.

ABSTRACT: Preclinical and clinical evidence implicates N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAr) signaling in early embryological development. However, the role of NMDAr signaling in early development has not been well studied. Here, we use a mouse embryonic stem cell model to perform a step-wise exploration of the effects of NMDAr signaling on early cell fate specification. We found that antagonism of the NMDAr impaired specification into the neuroectodermal and mesoendodermal cell lineages, with little or no effect on specification of the extraembryonic endoderm cell lineage. Consistent with these findings, exogenous NMDA promoted neuroectodermal differentiation. Finally, NMDAr antagonism modified expression of several key targets of TGF-β superfamily signaling, suggesting a mechanism for these findin

SUBMITTER: Akeju O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4046705 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature