Folate receptor 1 is necessary for neural plate cell apical constriction during Xenopus neural tube formation.

ABSTRACT: Folate supplementation prevents up to 70% of neural tube defects (NTDs), which result from a failure of neural tube closure during embryogenesis. The elucidation of the mechanisms underlying folate action has been challenging. This study introduces Xenopus laevis as a model to determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in folate action during neural tube formation. We show that knockdown of folate receptor 1 (Folr1; also known as FRα) impairs neural tube formation and leads to NTDs. Folr1 knockdown in neural plate cells only is necessary and sufficient to induce NTDs. Folr1-deficient neural plate cells fail to constrict, resulting in widening of the neural plate midline and defective neural tube closure. Pharmacological inhibition of folate action by methotrexate durin

SUBMITTER: Balashova OA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5399658 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature