Retinoids in Embryonic Development

Dear Colleagues,

Animal development is characterized by the deployment of highly conserved sets of morphogens and transcription factors that contribute to the patterning and formation of a startling variety of adult morphologies. One of these conserved effector–receptor systems is retinoic acid (RA) signaling that plays critical roles not only during development, but also in the regulation of adult homeostasis. Within a target cell, RA signaling is activated by the binding of all-trans RA, the biologically active metabolite of vitamin A, to heterodimers of two nuclear receptors, the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and the retinoid X receptor (RXR). Since the discovery of these nuclear RA receptors a little bit over 30 years ago, an enormous effort has been undertaken by the scientific community to disclose both the molecular intricacies of the RA signal and the biological readouts of its activity. It is probably safe to say that the scientific community has already come a long way to fulfill this ambitious aim, but as groundbreaking discoveries are being made, new research questions emerge. This Special Issue intends to provide examples of current exciting work on RA signaling, with a special focus on developmental processes in the embryo, highlighting intriguing results and exciting perspectives for the future of RA research.

Dr. Michael Schubert
Dr. Yann Gibert
Guest Editors

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