Introduction In spina bifida the neural tube fails to close during the embryonic period and it is thought that exposure of the neural tube to the amniotic fluid during pregnancy causes additional neural damage (second hit hypothesis) [1]. Intra-uterine tissue engineering, using a biomaterial seeded with stem cells, might prevent this additional damage. For this purpose, autologous stem cells fr...

OBJECTIVE To determine an optimal population red blood cell (RBC) folate concentration for the prevention of neural tube birth defects. DESIGN Bayesian model. SETTING Data from two population based studies in China. PARTICIPANTS 247,831 participants in a prospective community intervention project in China (1993-95) to prevent neural tube defects with 400 μg/day folic acid supplementation ...

TIn the US, one in 1000 births is affected by neural tube [4] defects (NTD). A neural tube [4] defect is a birth defect involving the malformation of body features associated with the brain and spinal cord. An NTD originates from and is characterized by incomplete closure of the neural tube [4], which is an organizer [5] and precursor of the central nervous system [6]. In humans [7], incomplete...

TIn the US, one in 1000 births is affected by neural tube [4] defects (NTD). A neural tube [4] defect is a birth defect involving the malformation of body features associated with the brain and spinal cord. An NTD originates from and is characterized by incomplete closure of the neural tube [4], which is an organizer [5] and precursor of the central nervous system [6]. In humans [7], incomplete...

TIn the US, one in 1000 births is affected by neural tube [4] defects (NTD). A neural tube [4] defect is a birth defect involving the malformation of body features associated with the brain and spinal cord. An NTD originates from and is characterized by incomplete closure of the neural tube [4], which is an organizer [5] and precursor of the central nervous system [6]. In humans [7], incomplete...

F52 is a myristoylated, alanine-rich substrate for protein kinase C. We have generated F52-deficient mice by the gene targeting technique. These mutant mice manifest severe neural tube defects that are not associated with other complex malformations, a phenotype reminiscent of common human neural tube defects. The neural tube defects observed include both exencephaly and spina bifida, and the p...

TIn the US, one in 1000 births is affected by neural tube [4] defects (NTD). A neural tube [4] defect is a birth defect involving the malformation of body features associated with the brain and spinal cord. An NTD originates from and is characterized by incomplete closure of the neural tube [4], which is an organizer [5] and precursor of the central nervous system [6]. In humans [7], incomplete...

Neural tube defect (NTD) is a serious congenital defect, but current methods for identifying NTD are limited. We used proteomic analysis of maternal serum to identify NTD-specific proteins whose levels differed between women with NTD fetuses (n = 50) and those with healthy fetuses (n = 40). Three NTD-specific protein peaks (8,130.6, 15,941.7, and 3,960.3 m/z) were identified using MALDI-TOF-mas...