Retinoic acid

Common card · No. 462976

Retinoic acid is a metabolite of vitamin A1 (all-trans-retinol) that exists in several distinct isomeric forms, including all-trans retinoic acid, 9-cis retinoic acid and 13-cis retinoic acid. These isomers are responsible for diverse roles in biology, affecting development, male fertility, skin health and various diseases. The classic isomer, all-trans retinoic acid, is required for discrete phases of embryonic development and for the production of sperm in men. The 9-cis and 13-cis isomers are less well understood as regulators of biology, and are more often researched in their drug forms as Alitretinoin and Isotretinoin, respectively. All-trans-retinoic acid (often simplified as Retinoic acid) activates the Retinoid Nuclear Receptor pathway, which is one of the 12 classic vitamin- or hormone-activated nuclear receptors. In healthy adults, clinical trials have shown that removal of all-trans-retinoic acid has a limited effect that is restricted to the initiation of spermatogenesis in...

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