Our analyses show that RA is a crucial factor for the patterning of the eye, and that it is an essential requirement for neurite outgrowth and neuronal survival in several other systems. We are finding a strict correlation between high RA synthesis and sites and locations of neuronal growth in the developing nervous system, and neuronal plasticity in the adult. E.K. Shriver Center, Waltham MA Project Director. Asymmetrical retinoic acid synthesis in the dorso-ventral axis of the retina. Hotspots of retinoic acid synthesis in the developing spinal cord.
Retinoic acid is necessary for development of the ventral retina in zebrafish.
Retinoic acid in the anteroposterior patterning of the zebrafish trunk. Roux Archives of Developmental Biology, in press.