Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Receptors in the Central Nervous System of the Rat Embryo

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-7-1998

Journal Title

Brain Research

ISSN

0006-8993

Volume

804

Issue

2

First Page

193

Last Page

205

DOI

10.1016/s0006-8993(98)00565-4

PubMed ID

9757035

Abstract

We have mapped areas within the central nervous system (CNS) of the developing fetal rat which immunostain for the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor (VDR). The VDR was detected from days 12 to 21 of gestation throughout the CNS; immunostaining was particularly intense in the neuroepithelium and within the differentiating fields of various areas of the brain. Cells within the spinal cord, dorsal root, and other ganglia exhibited positive staining for the VDR. The intensity of staining for the VDR diminished or disappeared in the neuroepithelium throughout the CNS during the later days of development, while in the differentiating fields single VDR immunoreactive cells were observed. The presence of the VDR in the CNS was confirmed by in situ hybridization and RNA-based polymerase chain reaction methods with di-deoxy sequencing of the resultant DNA product. These results support the hypothesis that 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, through interactions with the VDR, may play a role in the development of the CNS.

Keywords

Animals, brain chemistry, calcitriol, central nervous system, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, pregnancy, RNA probes, RNA, messenger, rats, Sprague-Dawley, receptors, calcitriol, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, spinal cord

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