Deficient Vitamin E Uptake During Development Impairs Neural Tube Closure in Mice Lacking Lipoprotein Receptor SR-BI

SR-BI is the main receptor for high density lipoproteins (HDL) and mediates the bidirectional transport of lipids, such as cholesterol and vitamin E, between these particles and cells. During early development, SR-BI is expressed in extraembryonic tissue, specifically in trophoblast giant cells in the parietal yolk sac. We previously showed that approximately 50% of SR-BI(−/−) embryos fail to close the anterior neural tube and develop exencephaly, a perinatal lethal condition. Here, we evaluated the role of SR-BI in embryonic vitamin E uptake during murine neural tube closure. Our results showed that SR-BI(−/−) embryos had a very low vitamin E content in comparison to SR-BI(+/+) embryos. Whereas SR-BI(−/−) embryos with closed neural tubes (nSR-BI(−/−)) had high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), intermediate ROS levels between SR-BI(+/+) and nSR-BI(−/−) embryos were detected in SR-BI(−/−) with NTD (NTD SR-BI(−/−)). Reduced expression of Pax3, Alx1 and Alx3 genes was found in NTD SR-BI(−/−) embryos. Maternal α-tocopherol dietary supplementation prevented NTD almost completely (from 54% to 2%, p < 0.001) in SR-BI(−/−) embryos and normalized ROS and gene expression levels. In sum, our results suggest the involvement of SR-BI in the maternal provision of embryonic vitamin E to the mouse embryo during neural tube closure.