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Published on: June 13, 2021
Maternal serotonin is crucial for murine embryonic development
Francine Côté1, Cécile Fligny, Elisa Bayard
1Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire de la Neurotransmission et des Processus Neurodégénératifs, CNRS, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7091, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France. cote@chups.jussieu.fr
Maternal serotonin is crucial for early mammalian brain development before fetal neurons form. This study shows maternal serotonin, not fetal, guides crucial prenatal morphogenesis and development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Serotonin and its receptors appear early in prenatal development, influencing central nervous system (CNS) morphogenesis.
- Early serotonin biosynthesis sites are not detected in mouse embryos, suggesting a maternal source.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that maternal serotonin is essential for mammalian embryonic development.
- To determine the role of peripheral serotonin synthesis in prenatal morphogenesis.
Main Methods:
- Utilized knockout mice lacking the tph1 gene, which synthesizes peripheral serotonin.
- Conducted genetic crosses to compare phenotypes of offspring from homozygous and heterozygous tph1-/- mothers.
Main Results:
- Provided the first evidence that maternal serotonin controls morphogenesis before fetal serotonergic neurons emerge.
- Demonstrated serotonin's critical role in normal murine development.
- Observed that the phenotype of tph1-/- embryos was significantly influenced by the maternal genotype.
Conclusions:
- Maternal serotonin plays a vital role in controlling prenatal morphogenesis and overall murine development.
- The maternal genotype is a critical factor in embryonic development, more so than the conceptus genotype.
- Considering maternal genotype may elucidate the influence of other genes in complex diseases like mental illness.
