Novel Mode of Defective Neural Tube Closure in the Non-Obese Diabetic (NOD) Mouse Strain

Failure to close the neural tube results in birth defects, with severity ranging from spina bifida to lethal anencephaly. Few genetic risk factors for neural tube defects are known in humans, highlighting the critical role of environmental risk factors, such as maternal diabetes. Yet, it is not well understood how altered maternal metabolism interferes with embryonic development, and with neurulation in particular. We present evidence from two independent mouse models of diabetic pregnancy that identifies impaired migration of nascent mesodermal cells in the primitive streak as the morphogenetic basis underlying the pathogenesis of neural tube defects. We conclude that perturbed gastrulation not only explains the neurulation defects, but also provides a unifying etiology for the broad spectrum of congenital malformations in diabetic pregnancies.