Expression of the retinoic acid catabolic enzyme CYP26B1 in the human brain to maintain signaling homeostasis.

ABSTRACT: Retinoic acid (RA) is a potent regulator of gene transcription via its activation of a set of nuclear receptors controlling transcriptional activation. Precise maintenance of where and when RA is generated is essential and achieved by local expression of synthetic and catabolic enzymes. The catabolic enzymes Cyp26a1 and Cyp26b1 have been studied in detail in the embryo, where they limit gradients of RA that form patterns of gene expression, crucial for morphogenesis. This paracrine role of RA has been assumed to occur in most tissues and that the RA synthetic enzymes release RA at a site distant from the catabolic enzymes. In contrast to the embryonic CNS, relatively little is known about RA metabolism in the adult brain. This study investigated the distribution of Cyp26a1 and Cyp26b1 tran

SUBMITTER: Stoney PN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4920859 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature