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5-mehtyltetrahydrofolate rescues alcohol-induced neural crest cell migration abnormalities Shi, Yu; Li, Jiejing; Chen, Chunjiang; Gong, Manzi; Chen, Yuan; Liu, Youxue; Chen, Jie; Li, Tingyu; Song, Weihong

Abstract

Background: Alcohol is detrimental to early development. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) due to maternal alcohol abuse results in a series of developmental abnormalities including cranial facial dysmorphology, ocular anomalies, congenital heart defects, microcephaly and intellectual disabilities. Previous studies have been shown that ethanol exposure causes neural crest (NC) apoptosis and perturbation of neural crest migration. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this report we investigated the fetal effect of alcohol on the process of neural crest development in the Xenopus leavis. Results: Pre-gastrulation exposure of 2-4% alcohol induces apoptosis in Xenopus embryo whereas 1% alcohol specifically impairs neural crest migration without observing discernible apoptosis. Additionally, 1% alcohol treatment considerably increased the phenotype of small head (43.4% ± 4.4%, total embryo n = 234), and 1.5% and 2.0% dramatically augment the deformation to 81.2% ± 6.5% (n = 205) and 91.6% ± 3.0% (n = 235), respectively (P < 0.05). Significant accumulation of Homocysteine was caused by alcohol treatment in embryos and 5-mehtyltetrahydrofolate restores neural crest migration and alleviates homocysteine accumulation, resulting in inhibition of the alcohol-induced neurocristopathies. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that prenatal alcohol exposure causes neural crest cell migration abnormality and 5-mehtyltetrahydrofolate could be beneficial for treating FASD.

Item Metadata

Title
5-mehtyltetrahydrofolate rescues alcohol-induced neural crest cell migration abnormalities
Creator
Shi, Yu; Li, Jiejing; Chen, Chunjiang; Gong, Manzi; Chen, Yuan; Liu, Youxue; Chen, Jie; Li, Tingyu; Song, Weihong
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
Publisher
BioMed Central
Date Issued
2014-09-16
Description
Background: Alcohol is detrimental to early development. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) due to maternal alcohol abuse results in a series of developmental abnormalities including cranial facial dysmorphology, ocular anomalies, congenital heart defects, microcephaly and intellectual disabilities. Previous studies have been shown that ethanol exposure causes neural crest (NC) apoptosis and perturbation of neural crest migration. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In this report we investigated the fetal effect of alcohol on the process of neural crest development in the Xenopus leavis. Results: Pre-gastrulation exposure of 2-4% alcohol induces apoptosis in Xenopus embryo whereas 1% alcohol specifically impairs neural crest migration without observing discernible apoptosis. Additionally, 1% alcohol treatment considerably increased the phenotype of small head (43.4% ± 4.4%, total embryo n = 234), and 1.5% and 2.0% dramatically augment the deformation to 81.2% ± 6.5% (n = 205) and 91.6% ± 3.0% (n = 235), respectively (P < 0.05). Significant accumulation of Homocysteine was caused by alcohol treatment in embryos and 5-mehtyltetrahydrofolate restores neural crest migration and alleviates homocysteine accumulation, resulting in inhibition of the alcohol-induced neurocristopathies. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that prenatal alcohol exposure causes neural crest cell migration abnormality and 5-mehtyltetrahydrofolate could be beneficial for treating FASD.
Subject
Alcohol; 5-mehtyltetrahydrofolate; Neural crest; FASD; Xenopus
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2016-01-13
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
DOI
10.14288/1.0223328
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/56421
Affiliation
Psychiatry, Department of; Other UBC; Non UBC; Medicine, Faculty of
Citation
Molecular Brain. 2014 Sep 16;7(1):67
Publisher DOI
10.1186/s13041-014-0067-9
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Copyright Holder
Shi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)