All-trans retinoic acid affects the expression of orphan receptors COUP-TF I and COUP-TF II in the developing neural tube

The effect of all-trans retinoic acid (RA) on chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor (COUP-TF) I and COUP-TF II expression in the developing cervical spinal cord and telencephalon was examined using embryonic day 11 and 13 mice. All-trans RA treatment results in changes in expression of COUP-TF I and COUP-TF II genes in the spinal cord and telencephalon. COUP-TF I mRNA levels were reduced in the spinal cord ventricular zone (VZ) after treatment, whereas in the telencephalon, mRNA levels were unaffected in the VZ and increased in the intermediate zone (IZ). COUP-TF II mRNA levels were increased in the spinal cord VZ after treatment, while in the telencephalon, IZ mRNA levels were decreased in the E11 embryos and increased in E13 embryos.