Folate deficiency induced H2A ubiquitination to lead to downregulated expression of genes involved in neural tube defects.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Neural tube defects (NTDs) are common congenital malformations resulting in failure of the neural tube closure during early embryonic development. Although it is known that maternal folate deficiency increases the risk of NTDs, the mechanism remains elusive. RESULTS:Herein, we report that histone H2A monoubiquitination (H2AK119ub1) plays a role in neural tube closure. We found that the folate antagonist methotrexate induced H2AK119ub1 in mouse embryonic stem cells. We demonstrated that an increase in H2AK119ub1 downregulated expression of the neural tube closure-related genes Cdx2, Nes, Pax6, and Gata4 in mouse embryonic stem cells under folate deficiency conditions. We also determined that the E3 ligase Mdm2 was responsible for the methotrexate-induced increase in H2AK119ub1 an

SUBMITTER: Pei P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6852770 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature